The Beginning
by TakerTakeMe
Summary: Steph's freshman year at Spritzville High School. Guess which popular senior she has a crush on... Includes other wrestlers, some OCs.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

It was the first day of her freshman year at Spritzville High School, and Stephanie McMahon was excited. She had been waiting for the day when she could finally say she was a high school student, and today was that day. She had woken up thirty minutes before she was supposed to, but she wasn't the least bit tired. Rather, she was more energetic than she'd ever been!

"Shane! Steph! Time for breakfast!" Linda McMahon called up the stairs. She looked around the table. Only three places were set. Her husband Vince's place hadn't been set because, as usual, he wasn't there. As owner of the WWE, he had to be at the office a lot. She was used to it by now, but that didn't mean she didn't miss him every day.

"You cooked breakfast, or did Maria cook it?" Shane McMahon asked, walking into the room. He carried only a notebook under his arm. He was wearing an oversized shirt, baggy jean pants, and vintage Jordan shoes. His cap was turned sideways on his head and he had shades on.

"I cooked it, and what are you wearing?" Linda asked.

"What's wrong with my clothes?" Shane asked, looking down at himself. "I think I look good, know what I'm saying?"

"You've been hanging out with that thug again, haven't you?" she asked. "What's his name? John Cena?"

"C-Dawg," he corrected. "We went shopping together over the weekend for school clothes and he _really_ helped me fix my fashion problem."

"You didn't have one," she said, shaking her head disapprovingly. "And your pants are hanging way too low, young man."

"Ma, I'm a senior now. It doesn't matter how I look," he said huffily, sitting down at the table. "I think I look cool, and the _ladies_ will agree."

"Good morning, family," Steph said in a singsong voice as she entered the room. She was wearing a tight shirt, some hip-hugger jeans, and some high-heeled boots. Her hair was down, framing her face in curly waves. She put her mesh book bag down next to her spot at the table and sat down. "I'm officially a high school student."

"You look like a whore," Shane said immediately.

"And you look like a pimp," Steph replied.

"We did a good job!" Shane said, reaching over to give her a high five.

"You two are crazy," Linda said, shaking her head and smiling. When had her babies grown so much? And so fast? She looked at the clock. "Hurry up and eat breakfast, school will be starting soon."

"And I want to be early, Shane," Steph said. "We _have _to be early."

"Baby sis, you have to learn how me and my boys roll," Shane said. "We arrive right on time, not early. And we arrive in style."

"Are you picking someone up for school?" Linda asked as the two teenagers started eating.

"Just the usual. C-Dawg," Shane said, biting a piece of toast.

"Not with my baby girl in there," Linda said. "I will _not _have that thug in the car with my baby girl."

"Ok, Mom," Shane said. He and Steph shared a knowing look.

"If you pick Amy up for me then I won't tell Mom when you pick John up," Steph whispered.

"Amy who?" he asked, pretending not to recognize the name. "That red-head you hang out with?"

"Yes! My best friend for life, Amy Dumas. Duh!" she replied.

"Deal," he said. They quickly finished their breakfast. "Let's get outta here."

"Ok, Mom," Steph said, getting up and grabbing her book bag. "We're about to head to school so Shane can give me the grand tour."

"Ok, where are my hugs?" Linda asked. Both Shane and Steph hugged her, and she gave them each a kiss on the forehead. "Don't worry about the breakfast dishes. I'll clear the table. Just have fun in school and be careful. And Shane, keep an eye out for your little sister. She's only a kid."

"I'm almost 15, Mom," Steph said. "I'm ok."

"I'll watch out for her. I'm nearly 18. I can keep her safe," Shane reassured his mother. "We'll see you after school."

"Ok, I love you two," Linda said as the two teens walked out the kitchen door and into the garage.

"We love you, too!" both kids called. Shane unlocked the doors to his Land Rover and they hopped in. A few minutes later, they were in the car on the way to Amy's house.

"I'm so excited!" Steph squealed. She could barely keep still in the back seat of the car.

"The excitement will wear off soon enough, trust me," Shane said as he cruised through the streets of their high class neighborhood.

"Why are you picking John up anyway?" she asked, changing the subject. "Lord knows he has, like, three cars already."

"Yeah, I know, but his parents took all of his keys for a week," he replied, coming to a stop in front of Amy's house and blowing the horn.

"Why?"

"Because of the other day when he beat up that dude in the mall. Remember when I told you about that guy who told him he couldn't rap?" he asked.

"Oh yeah, I remember," she said slowly. "So they took his keys."

"Yep. He gets them back this Saturday." He looked over at the door to Amy's house as Amy stepped out. "Wow, Steph, your little friend is really growing up!"

"Shut up, dork," she replied as Amy made her way to the car.

Amy hopped in the back seat behind Shane and looked at Steph. "Oh my God, this is _so_ cool!" Amy exclaimed. "We're gonna arrive at school in style!"

"I know, isn't it awesome? Think of all the other freshmen who'll be riding the bus!" Stephanie exclaimed. "I'm so lucky I have a brother who's a senior."

"A very _hot_ brother who's a senior," Amy said as Shane drove to C-Dawg's house.

"Hot? Amy, do you have a fever?" Steph asked. "Because in no way, shape, or form is my brother _hot_."

"Keep talking like that, Steph, and you won't have a ride to school," Shane warned as he pulled to a stop in front of C-Dawg's house and blew the horn.

As soon as Shane blew the horn, C-Dawg came out the door. He was wearing the same type of clothes as Shane was, baseball cap tilted sideways, shades perched on the tip of his nose. He came over to the Land Rover and hopped inside in the front seat.

"He's hot, too," Amy whispered as Shane started driving.

"Totally. I love his voice," Steph agreed, but she was thinking about another one of Shane's friends. "Hey Shane, how's Chris getting to school?"

"He's driving, duh," Shane replied.

"Are you gonna meet him at school?" she asked. She really wanted to see him. She'd had a crush on him forever.

"Of course I will. You know me, him, and C-Dawg here are the three amigos," Shane said. He looked at her when they came to a red light. "Why are you so interested in Chris in the first place?"

"I was just curious," Steph replied, looking at Amy.

"Whatever," Shane said. He got into a conversation with C-Dawg about what girls he thought were gonna be hot this year at school.

"You're still crazy about Chris, huh?" Amy asked.

"Shhh!" Steph replied. "Shane doesn't know."

"Ok, I won't say anything," Amy promised.

"We're here, yo," C-Dawg said as they pulled into the student parking lot at Spritzville High School.

Shane pulled his Land Rover into a spot next to a shiny silver Jaguar.

"Wow, that is a _tight _car!" Amy exclaimed. "I think I'll ask my dad to get me one once I can drive."

"That's just Chris's car," Shane said with a wave of his hand. He grabbed his notebook. "Come on, let's get out."

They all stepped out of the Land Rover at the same time. Then they stood in a little group at the front of the car.

"I'm a cool big brother," Shane said to Steph. "I'm not going to tell you that you can't talk to me during school or anything like that. You and Ames are free to hang out with me any time you see me."

"Yeah, me, too," C-Dawg added.

"Good," Steph said, looking around at all the kids in the parking lot. They all looked so..._big_!

"Awesome!" Amy said excitedly. She loved the way Shane called her Ames!

Next to them, the driver's door of the Jag opened and Chris Irvine stepped out. His long blonde hair was in a ponytail, and he was dressed like Shane and C-Dawg. His shirt and pants were baggy and loose, his Jordans untied but impeccably clean and new.

"Three amigos unite!" Shane said as Chris walked over to them.

"Dude, that's, like, really corny," Chris said with a smile. He looked over at Steph and Amy. "And check you two out. Steph, you better watch out around here."

"Why?" Steph asked nervously.

"Because I might have to come over there and kiss you," he said with a smile. He went over and kissed her on the forehead, then put his arm around her shoulder affectionately. "I can't believe you're a freshman now, kid."

"Chris, there you are!" came a loud female voice from behind them. They all turned around to see a busty blonde walking up to them.

"Oh, hey, Trish," Chris said, quickly removing his arm from around Steph and walking over to Trish.

"Um, we'll catch up with you later, Chris," Shane said. C-Dawg nodded and the two quickly walked away, leaving Steph and Amy with Chris and Trish.

"Who are these two? Obviously freshmen," Trish said, looking critically at Steph and Amy.

"Oh, I should make introductions. Trish, meet Shane's little sister Stephanie and Steph's friend, Amy," Chris said quickly. "Steph, Amy, meet my girlfriend Trish Stratus."

"Nice to meet you," Steph said numbly.

"Yeah, nice to meet you," Amy said quickly.

"Chris, we totally don't need to be seen with freshmen. We're _seniors_," Trish pointed out, grabbing his arm.

"What difference does that make?" Chris asked.

"All the difference in the world," Trish said nastily. She started walking away, pulling him with her.

"I'll see you later," Chris called over his shoulder to both Steph and Amy as Trish whisked him away, but his eyes were focused only on Steph.

"Bye," both of them called, and watched as the blonde dragged him towards the school and _away_ from them.

"Geez, that Trish is a bitch!" Amy said, shaking her head.

Steph's eyes were wide. She still couldn't believe what she had just learned. "He has a girlfriend?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Steph and Amy walked through the entrance gates from the student parking lot into school and into the crowded hallway, B-Hall. There were so many people there, and this immediately made them nervous.

"Middle school wasn't this crowded," Amy said, holding on to Steph's arm as people bumped into them and kept walking without saying excuse me.

"Yeah, I know," Steph replied, preoccupied. "I still can't get over the fact that Chris has a girlfriend!"

"Neither can I, especially not one as mean as that chick Trish," Amy said. She looked down at her schedule, then over at a classroom they were about to pass. "Hey, this is my homeroom," she said.

"Do you think they're splitting us up by last name to determine our homerooms?" Steph asked.

"Probably," Amy replied. She looked down at her schedule again. "Well, I'll see you in first period American Government Honors."

"Later," Steph said. Amy went into her classroom and Steph kept walking, still a bit preoccupied over Chris having a girlfriend. The first bell rang, and Steph started walking quickly down the hall, trying to find her class, knowing that the warning bell would ring five minutes later, followed two minutes after that by the final bell. She had approximately seven minutes to get to class and she had no clue how to get there.

"Hey, watch where you're going, bitch," a familiar female voice said when Steph bumped into her.

"Sorry," Steph said, looking to see who she had bumped into. She couldn't believe who it was. Trish. And standing next to her, with his arms around her, was Chris.

"Hey, chill out, Trish," Chris said, looking apologetically at Steph. "Have you been able to find your homeroom, Steph?"

"No, not yet," Steph answered, looking miserably down at her shoes.

"I'll take you," he volunteered.

"Chris! You're supposed to walk _me_ to class!" Trish protested, grabbing his arm tightly.

"I can meet you there," he replied. "You know the way around here. Steph needs a little help."

"Fine," Trish snapped. She pulled him down and kissed him hungrily. "I'll meet you in class." She glared at Steph, then turned on her heel and headed down the hall, turning right at the end. The crowd of people separated and cleared a place for her as she walked down the hall, waving at people she knew.

"I'm really sorry about her," Chris said, putting his arm around Steph's shoulder. "Let me see your schedule."

Steph handed him her schedule, trying not to look at him.

"Oh, I see here that your homeroom is N-102," he said. "We have to walk across the courtyard to get there."

The people stepped back as Chris and Steph walked down B-Hall together.

"You must be well-respected here," Steph said quietly as they reached the end of the hall and started to walk diagonally across the courtyard of the huge outdoor campus.

"Not well-respected. Just a bit richer than most people," he corrected. "Here at Spritzville High, the richest people are the most popular ones."

"Then how come I'm not popular yet?" she joked. "I'm one of the richest people here."

"Yeah, you and Shane are at the top of the list," he agreed. "But it's just your first day, sweetheart. No one _knows_ you yet."

"But _I'd_ like to know you," came a voice from behind them. Chris and Steph turned around and were face to face with a muscular young man with shoulder-length hair. He was wearing a tight shirt, displaying his muscles, some sweats, and some comfortable-looking slides.

"Paul," Chris said, acknowledging the newcomer.

"Chris," Paul said, looking briefly at him before looking at Steph again. "Now what's your name, pretty girl?"

"Stephanie," Steph answered. The guy was good-looking enough, but he seemed... There was something she didn't like about him already. "Stephanie McMahon."

"Related to Shane McMahon?" Paul asked curiously.

"Yeah, that's my big brother," she answered.

"I'm Paul Levesque," Paul said. "I'm gonna be working for your dad as soon as I get out of high school this year."

"Right," Chris said sarcastically, cutting in. "What do you want now?"

"I was just introducing myself to the pretty lady," Paul said, putting his hands up. "There's no reason for you to be getting your boxers in a bunch."

"Look, Paul, Steph is only 14. You're too old for her," Chris said, pulling Steph tight against him. "Now just go find some other girl to flirt with, 'kay?"

"Geez, Chris, I just saw you making out with Trish," Paul said. "But the way you're acting all protective of Stephanie, you act like _she's_ your girlfriend... Where _is _Trish, by the way?"

"Don't worry about it," Chris said. "It's none of your business. Come on, Steph, let me take you to class."

"I'll catch you later, Stephanie!" Paul yelled as Chris and Steph walked away.

"Like hell you will," Chris muttered. They were silent as they walked together across the courtyard.

"He seems like a jerk," Steph said a short time later.

"He _is_ a jerk," he replied. "Paul Levesque is nothing but trouble, and I wouldn't advise you to become associated with him."

"You don't have to worry about that," she said with a smile. "I already have my eye on another guy."

"What guy?" he asked sharply as they came to a stop in front of N-102.

"Can't tell you," she teased. She looked up into his piercing blue eyes. "Thanks for walking me to class. I never would've made it here on my own."

"Not a problem. And once again, I'm really sorry about what Trish said. She's usually not that rude," he said, touching her hair. "Nice waves today, by the way."

"Thanks," she replied. The warning bell rang. "You're gonna be late for class."

"I'll make it fine," he said. "Now, when you need to find a class, look for the letter at the beginning of each hallway. Remember that rooms that start with '1' are downstairs and rooms that start with '2' are upstairs. You should be able to find all your classes easily by just that information, but I'll pick you up a map today at lunch from Guidance."

"Thanks a lot, Chris," she said. "Now you better get to class."

"Later," he said, taking off at a run.

She watched him go, then headed into her class and took a seat in the first seat she came to. It was in the first row, right at the front of the class. She looked around carefully, trying to see if there was anyone she knew in there.

The teacher came in to take the attendance. "Hello, welcome to Spritzville High School, home of the Spritzville Spirits. Boo," the man said in a bored voice. He rubbed his hand over the shiny bald spot at the top of his head, then through the blonde hair around it. "My name is Mr. Bollea, I'm your homeroom teacher, and I'm about to take attendance. If you're not here, raise your hand," he joked as he started to call out names.

"What about if you don't _want_ to be here?" a voice asked from the back of the class.

"Then raise your hand. What's your name?" Mr. Bollea asked.

"My name's Rey Mysterio," the guy answered.

"Rey Mysterio..." Mr. Bollea ran his finger down the list of names until he found it. "Ok, I'll mark you absent."

"Hey, no, don't do that," Rey said. "My mom will think I skipped school today."

"Don't worry, I didn't _really_ mark you absent..."

Steph sat in homeroom for two long hours, wishing that homeroom could just be over already. When the bell finally rang, she jumped up happily and left the class.

She stepped out into the hallway, looking down at her schedule. "American Government Honors, room L-104." She walked to the end of N-Hall and looked up as Chris had instructed her to do. "Lucky me, I just have to make a right." She walked down L-Hall and soon found herself in front of room L-104.

Walking inside, she saw some of the people she knew from middle school. Amy was sitting in the middle of the class, talking to a guy with blonde hair that Steph didn't recognize. She walked over to them and took a seat.

"Hey Amy, how was homeroom?" Steph asked, looking at her friend.

"Steph, it was so awesome!" Amy exclaimed. "Oh, and this guy," she said, gesturing to the guy she had been talking to. "His name is Adam Copeland. We met in homeroom."

"I'm Stephanie McMahon," Steph said, reaching out to shake his hand.

They shook hands, and then a guy appeared in the doorway of the classroom. He looked around the room, then made his way over and joined the three of them.

"Matt, I thought you'd never get here," Adam said. He made quick introductions. "Matt, this is Amy Dumas and Stephanie McMahon. Amy, Stephanie, meet Matt Hardy."

They all shook hands and talked until the teacher came to the front of the class and signaled for silence. "I'm Mr. Flair and I'll be teaching you all about American Government. Whoo!" the teacher exclaimed, excited. "This is an honors class so we'll be moving at a fast pace and doing advanced work. Whoo!"

Steph, Amy, Adam, and Matt looked at each other. This was going to be one interesting class!


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Hey, sis, how's your day been so far?" Shane asked. He and Stephanie were meeting up in the middle of the courtyard after third period for first lunch.

"Um, it's been ok," Steph replied, thinking of what she'd found out earlier in the parking lot. She looked around. "So... Does Chris have first lunch?"

"Yeah. Why the sudden interest in Chris?" Shane wanted to know.

"Sudden interest? What's wrong with being interested in Chris?" she asked, putting her hand on her hip. "I happen to think Chris is a cool guy."

"Speaking of the devil..." Shane's voice trailed off as the topic of their conversation walked up.

"Where's Trish?" Steph asked immediately.

"She has second lunch," Chris answered, smiling at her. "Thank God for that."

"You don't want her here?" Shane asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No. I mean, she's my girl and everything, but I need some room to _breathe _once in a while, you know?" Chris asked.

Shane nodded. "I don't like her at all... But you already know that."

"I know," Chris said. He looked at Steph. "Once again, Steph, I'm really sorry about the way that she treated you earlier."

"What happened earlier?" Shane asked with narrowed eyes. "If Trish did something to Steph, I _swear_ she'll regret it."

"Relax, Shane, nothing happened," Steph said quickly. She knew how protective her brother was of her, and he was a natural hothead. She didn't want any problems, especially not on the first day of school.

"As _if_ I'd let something happen to Steph," Chris said. He smiled at her, putting his arm around her shoulder. "You know who was trying to talk to her earlier?"

"Let me guess... Kurt Angle?" Shane asked.

"Oh _please_," Chris scoffed. "No, it was Paul."

"Levesque?" Shane asked in disbelief. Chris nodded. "Stephanie, listen to me now. Do _not_ get close to Paul. He's bad news."

"I already like someone else, so you don't have to worry about that," Steph replied, sneaking her arm around Chris's waist.

"Who is it?" Shane questioned.

"Why, it's _me_ of course!" Chris teased. "Me and Steph have had a little thing for each other since we met."

"Since she was five? I'm sorry, but ew," Shane laughed. "That's just nasty."

"What's nasty about that?" Chris asked, looking directly at Steph. "I was, like, eight then. That's not so much of an age difference."

Steph met Chris's gaze and she smiled shyly. "Yeah, that's not so much of an age difference. It's only three years."

Shane rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He looked around and a confused look appeared on his face. "Where's Amy?" he finally asked.

"Oh, she met some guys," Steph said with a shrug. "I guess she's having lunch with them today."

"So she's not coming over here with us then?" Shane asked, frowning.

"Probably not," Steph said. "I think she wants to get to know them today."

"Oh," Shane said. He sat down on a nearby bench and looked down at his shoes.

"Is it just me, Steph, or does Shane look a little disappointed?" Chris asked, removing his arm from around her shoulder and observing his friend.

"He definitely looks disappointed," Steph agreed. "I wonder why?"

"With Shane, you never know," Chris said, shaking his head. "I've been one of his best friends for, like, nine years and I don't even know."

"I'm going to find out," Steph said. She walked over and sat next to her brother. "Why do you look so down all of a sudden?" she asked him in a soft voice.

"Down? Who's down?" Shane asked, still looking at his shoes. "Certainly not Shane O'Mac."

"Did you want Amy to sit with us today or something?" she asked.

"No! I mean, no," he said. "I just thought she would want to sit over here today... But it's no big deal." He stood up.

"Where are you going?" Chris asked, arms folded across his chest as he observed the two siblings.

"I forgot that I was supposed to meet C-Dawg at my car," Shane said, already starting to walk away. "We're going to go watch a little TV. Come along if you want."

Chris and Steph locked eyes only briefly before Chris answered. "Um, actually, I think I'm going to take Steph on a tour of the campus," he said. He looked back at Steph. "That is, if you want me to."

"Only if you want to," Steph said. "I mean, you don't have to waste your lunch on me."

"I want to," he said, smiling a crooked smile at her. "Besides, this school is really confusing, the whole layout or whatever. It'll take you forever to figure it all out unless you get a pro like me to show you around."

"Suit yourselves," Shane called over his shoulder as he walked across the courtyard, headed for B-Hall. "The offer still stands if you change your mind."

They both watched him walk away, and then Chris turned to Steph. "So... Are you ready for the grand tour?"

"Sure," she replied. "Let's do it."

The school was pretty huge, and it took Chris almost twenty full minutes to show her just the basic hallways. Soon afterwards, though, they were at the beginning of L-Hall. He turned to look at her. "Come on, there's more stuff to see down here."

Steph walked alongside Chris down L-Hall. When they reached the end of the hall, there was a staircase, the beginning of another hall (M-Hall), and a corner. "Which way do we go?" she asked.

"Down that way is M-Hall," he said, pointing at the hall. "But I want to show you what's back there," he went on, pointing to a place around the corner.

"What's back there?" she asked curiously.

"It's nothing special," he said, shrugging as he turned the corner. "But it's quiet back here. Secluded."

They found themselves behind the cafeteria. He'd been right, it wasn't anything special, but it was quiet. Secluded. No one was back there. There were a few parked cars out there and there was an open gate, but as for other people... There were none.

She looked around, then back at him. "So why are we back here?" she asked finally.

"No reason." He walked over and leaned against a rail. "It's just... You know, we never get the chance to really _talk_."

"Talk?" she repeated, one eyebrow raised. She walked over and leaned against the rail next to him. "What do we have to talk about?""

"Oh, nothing," he said, standing up straight. He looked at the Rolex on his arm. "The bell's going to be ringing soon and we still haven't gone out behind the gym yet."

"We can do it another day, can't we?" she asked hopefully.

"Of course," he said, looking intently at her. "Did I tell you that you look pretty today?"

She looked down, blushing. "Thanks. You look good today, too."

He tilted her chin up. "Why blush? I'm only telling the truth."

She forced herself to stare into his eyes, but soon she found herself staring at his lips, those beautiful lips. They looked so kissable. All she wanted to do was kiss him for all he was worth...

"Uh, Steph?" he asked, not moving his hand from her chin.

"Yeah?" she asked breathlessly.

"The bell just rung," he said softly.

"Oh," she said, looking away. "Then we better get to class."

"Right," he said, hastily removing his hand from her chin and putting both of his hands in his pockets. "Come on," he said, nodding his head towards the hall opposite from the way they'd come from. "Where's your next class?"

"I-Hall upstairs. Biology Honors," she replied after looking at her schedule.

"No kidding. So who's your teacher, Ms. Young?" he asked, looking at her sideways.

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"I had her class. She's a crazy old woman, let me tell you..."

They found her class quite easily. He walked her into the class and walked over to the teacher, a wrinkled old woman.

"Ms. Young, how's it going this year?" Chris asked, smiling brightly. His smile was huge and dazzling, and, if the look on both Steph's face and Ms. Young's face, along with the looks on the faces of the entire female population of the class was any indication, it was spell-binding as well. He was such a charming and hypnotizing guy...

"Why Christopher, I didn't think you'd come visit the old bat so early this year," Ms. Young said, chuckling. "You make me feel so special."

"You _are_ special," Chris said, still smiling. He looked at Steph, then back at Ms. Young. "But this girl here, she's _really_ special."

Ms. Young looked at Steph. "You look familiar. What's your name?" she asked.

"Stephanie McMahon," Steph answered proudly.

Ms. Young tapped her chin thoughtfully, looking off into space. "Related to Shane McMahon?"

"That's her brother," Chris answered.

"Your brother is a little hellion," Ms. Young said to Steph, but she was smiling. "He's hilarious, though. One of my best students. Are you sure you want to come up in his shadow here?"

"Steph is an extremely bright person," Chris said, putting his arm around Steph's shoulder. "She's going to be one of your best students, I guarantee it."

Steph leaned against him and wondered why he was being so touchy-feely. He was always sort of touchy-feely with her, but not like this. Not in front of everybody. Not that she didn't like it, though. She loved it...

Suddenly, the two-minute warning bell rang. "Crap. I'm gonna be late!" Chris exclaimed, removing his arm from around Steph's shoulders. He looked at her, then kissed her on the forehead. "I'll see you later, little girl," he said. He gave her another crooked smile, then hurried out of the class, determined to make it to his class on time.

"Christopher believes highly of you, it seems," Ms. Young said. Steph nodded, and the teacher went on. "How about you take a seat so I can start class and you can prove Mr. Irvine right?"

Steph looked around the classroom for the first time and noticed that she didn't know anyone in there. She recognized a few faces. Some of the kids resembled people she'd seen in Shane's yearbook from the previous year when he had been a junior. She spotted an empty seat at a table next to a girl with blonde hair, so she walked over and sat down next to her.

"Hey... Chris Irvine kissed you," the blonde girl said immediately. "You know he has a girlfriend, right?"

"Yeah, I know," Steph said with a weary sigh. _Way to kill my high_, she thought, frowning slightly.

"How do you know him anyway? You're a freshman just like me, right?" the blonde girl asked curiously.

"I've known Chris since I was _five_," Steph said. "He's best friends with my big brother Shane."

"Shane McMahon's your _brother_? Oh my God, he is so _hot_!" the girl exclaimed. "Boy, I've been wanting to meet him ever since before I got here. He's, like, a legend here!"

Steph eyed the bubbly blonde critically, thinking that she eerily resembled someone she'd met... But who?

"By the way, we haven't formally introduced ourselves," the girl said. "My name's Tyra Stratus."

"Stratus?" Steph asked, her heart dropping into her stomach. "Do you have an older sibling here?"

"I have a sister here. She's a senior, and she dates Chris," Tyra said. She noticed the look on Steph's face and sighed. "I take it from your expression that you've already had a run-in with her and it didn't go too well."

"You're quite perceptive," Steph said, forcing herself smile a little smile. "Yep, I had a run-in with her this morning. Two, actually. The second time she called me a bitch."

"Yikes," Tyra said, looking down at her desk. "That sucks."

"I know. I don't like her very much already," Steph said. "No offense to you," she added quickly.

None taken," Tyra replied. "Everyone says that Trish and I are complete opposites."

"I can tell that much already. You haven't rolled your eyes at me and called me a bitch yet," Steph joked.

"Everyone says that for two sisters, we're nothing alike," Tyra said. "In my opinion, I'm the nice, approachable one and Trish is the menacing bitch."

"Did you just call your sister a bitch?" Steph asked in disbelief.

"Yeah. So what?" Tyra asked, shrugging. "She _is_ a bitch. No use in sugarcoating it."

Steph smiled. "Know what, Ty... Can I call you Ty?" Tyra nodded. "I have a feeling that we're going to be _great_ friends."

Tyra smiled back. "Know what, Steph... Can I call you Steph?" Steph nodded. "About us being great friends? You're probably right..."

**A/N: Sorry for the lack of updates. I kept starting this chapter, then erasing it, then starting it again. Ms. Young is Mae Young, just in case that isn't obvious. Just a little interesting information here: Spritzville High School is basically my high school with another name. It's very loosely based around my freshman year (which seems so long ago now that I'll be graduating in 2006). I'm oh-so-familiar with liking the popular senior who has the gorgeous, popular blonde airhead of a girlfriend who has the cool, down-to-earth younger sister... It's official. I'm weird... Anyway, review! Thanks!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Steph sat in her fifth period class, Geometry Honors, tapping her fingers impatiently on her desk. She was sitting in the front row of the classroom, right in front of the teacher's desk. She looked to the left and saw Amy sitting about three rows away. She looked to the right and saw Tyra sitting about three rows away in that direction. And then she looked back down at her fingers, which were still tapping impatiently on her desk.

Assigned seats sucked. In none of Steph's previous classes, with the exception of her second period computer class, had she been assigned to any seats, at least not alphabetically. The teachers had all basically let the students sit where they wanted to sit as long as they were quiet. No, not _this_ stupid teacher. Not Mr. Patterson, this old, grouchy man. He had assigned Steph's class to seats and had them all arranged by their last names. For the very first time in her life, Steph cursed her last name.

"Stephanie, _mami_, are you going to give me your cell phone number yet?" came the annoying voice from behind Steph again. Rey Mysterio's assigned seat was the seat directly behind Steph's, much to her dismay.

"No, Rey, you can_not_ have my cell phone number," Steph whispered loudly, shaking her head no. It was the fifth time he'd asked the question in the past thirty minutes.

"Pleeeease?" Rey asked. "_Mami_, you know I can show you what _real_ love is like!"

"No," Steph whispered again.

"All you have to do is give me your number and I can call you. Then we can set up a date," Rey went on excitedly.

"NO!" Steph yelled, breaking the silence that had filled the room only moments before. "No, no, freakin' no, ok?"

"Problem, Miss McMahon?" Mr. Patterson boomed. He was standing right in front of her desk. He had moved incredibly fast for an older guy.

"No sir, there's not a problem," Steph said, turning red.

"GOOD!" the man snapped. He slammed both his hands down hard on her desk, making her jump. He leaned down, his face inches from Steph's own face. He was so close that she could smell his sour breath, could see the nose hair poking out of his nose. "You listen to me, Miss McMahon. You will _not_ disrupt my class, understand?"

"Y-yes sir," Steph answered, blushing even more. "I understand."

"Don't get on my bad side," the man said. "I'll be watching you." He stood up straight again and walked over to his desk. He sat down, leaned his arms on the top of his desk, and stared at Steph for the remainder of the period.

When the bell finally rang, Steph was the first person out of her seat. She bolted out of the classroom and stood right outside the door, waiting on Amy and Ty to join her. They came out soon after, and both looked at her, concerned.

"You ok, Steph?" Ty asked.

"Yeah, you ok?" Amy asked.

"Yes, just a little embarrassed," Steph said, letting out a deep breath. "That man has it in for me. I can already tell what this year's going to be like in his class."

Amy shook her head. "I think you're right." She pulled out her schedule and examined it. "So, I have Creative Writing sixth period. How about you guys?"

"I have Aerobics," Ty said after looking at her schedule.

"So do I," Steph said, also looking at her schedule. "In the gym."

"You guys are so lucky to be together," Amy said, starting to walk away. "I better go so I can find my class..."

"Later, Ames," both girls called. They watched her walk away, then looked around.

"Please tell me that you know where the gym is," Steph said.

"Unfortunately, no," Ty said. "My schedule says it's on E-Hall, though."

"Where the hell is E-Hall?" Steph wondered.

"No clue," Ty replied. "But I'm sure we can ask around... Oh look, there's my evil big sister," she said, pointing. "We can ask her."

Steph looked in the direction in which Ty was pointing and saw Trish leaning against the brick wall twirling her hair around her finger and tapping her foot. She looked to be _impatiently_ waiting for someone. Steph hated to admit it, but Trish was really a very pretty girl. _I'd kill to have boobs like that_, she thought. Aloud, she said, "I don't think that's a very good idea."

"Nonsense," Ty said, already starting to walk over to where Trish was standing. Steph followed, dragging her feet, but just before they reached her, Chris walked up.

"Hey, baby," Trish purred, throwing her arms around Chris's neck and pressing herself against him. "Long time, no see."

"Long time?" Chris chuckled. "Babe, it's only been one period."

"I missed you. One period's too long to be away from you," Trish replied, touching his hair. "Much too long."

"It's only-" Chris started, but he was cut off when Trish kissed him. He put his arms around her and kissed her back...

"Do we have to watch this? It makes me want to puke," Steph said to Ty, trying not to be loud.

Steph's comment was loud enough for Chris to hear, apparently, because he broke the kiss and looked at Steph, face burning red. "Hey, Steph, I didn't see you there," he said, breathing hard and letting Trish go. Trish looked at Steph and Ty and frowned heavily.

"We just walked up," Tyra explained. She looked at her sister. "I need your help."

"I thought I told you never to talk to me in school!" Trish snapped, rolling her eyes at her little sister. "I thought I made it perfectly obvious to you that I didn't want to be _seen_ with you when I made you ride the bus to school this morning. If people find out that I'm related to a _freshman_..." Her voice trailed off as a look of pure disgust appeared on her face. "If people find out that I'm related to a freshman... Just imagine how my popularity would decrease!"

"I only wanted to ask you where the gym was," Tyra said in a small voice. She looked at the ground, looking and probably feeling completely miserable.

"Couldn't you and your little _friend_ here have asked someone else?" Trish asked, eyes on Steph. "_Anyone_ else?"

Chris looked at Trish, frowning. "Why are you being so _mean _to them?"

"Because, Chrissy-honey, they're _freshmen_," Trish said, pouting as she looked up at him. "I can't be seen talking to their kind."

"We were freshmen once, too, and it wasn't so long ago," Chris pointed out. "Or have you forgotten?"

"But that was a long time ago. We're _seniors_ now. We're elite, the top of the pyramid, the cream of the crop!" Trish exclaimed. "Just imagine the damage these two lowly freshmen have already done to our popularity in the last few minutes!"

"How can you talk about your own _sister_ like that?" Chris asked, practically glaring at her. "And Steph here is _my _friend... I've known _her _longer than I've known _you_."

"Like I care," Trish muttered, rolling her eyes at Steph again. "You're _my_ boyfriend, and that's all that matters. You're _mine_."

Just then, the warning bell rang. "Um, Chris, I hate to interrupt, but could you tell us where the gym is?" Steph asked quietly. "We don't want to be late."

"I'll do you one better. I'll _show_ you where it's at," Chris said, attention shifting back to Steph. He smiled reassuringly at her. "It's not that far away from here."

"But Chrisssss!" Trish whined. "Then you won't be able to walk _me_ to class!"

"Baby, I walk you to class all the time," Chris pointed out. "Besides, I don't want to get a tardy... And I have gym sixth period, too, so it makes perfect sense for me to walk them to class."

"You know what? Whatever," Trish said. "Go ahead and walk those two freshmen to class, see if I care. You're the one who's going to lose all your popularity, and then you're going to come mooching off of mine. But I'm not sharing!"

"Trish, it's not even that serious!" Chris protested. "And you know I've never cared about being popular."

"Whatever, _Christopher_," Trish snapped, turning on her heel and starting to walk away. "Oh yeah," she said, turning around and glaring at Steph and then at Ty. "Ty, we're going to have a little talk about your poor skills in choosing friends when we get home."

Chris's mouth dropped. The comment had obviously been a dig at Steph, and he definitely didn't like it, but Trish had walked away by the time he had thought of something to say in response. He looked after her, then groaned. "God, that girl drives me crazy sometimes! Why is she so rude?"

"I've been asking myself that same question since...well, forever," Ty said, speaking for the first time since Trish had started yelling at her about not talking to her at school.

Steph touched Chris lightly on the arm, and he looked at her. "Um, can you show us where the gym is now?" she asked timidly.

"Yeah, sure," Chris replied. "Follow me." They followed him to the end of G-Hall, where he turned right. They walked a little further down the hall until they came to a set of double doors. He held one door open, and Ty went in. Steph went in next and he followed close behind her. He grabbed her arm and pulled her to the side as the bell rang. "Hold on, Steph. I want to talk to you for a sec...alone."

"Want me to wait for you?" Ty asked Steph, raising her eyebrow when Chris pulled Steph aside.

"No, that's ok. I'll, um, meet you over there," Steph said, looking at the floor.

"You sure?" Ty asked.

"Positive," Steph answered, still looking at the floor.

"Ok." Ty walked over to the bleachers where the people in the Aerobics class were meeting.

"Steph, look at me," Chris said softly, standing in front of her. He gripped her shoulders lightly, one hand on each shoulder. Steph looked up, feeling more embarrassed than she ever had as the thought of what Trish had said replayed in her mind. "Are you ok?"

"I'm trying to be," Steph said, looking away. "I think I'll be ok."

"Look at me," he said again, letting her shoulders go and using one hand to gently tilt her chin up for the second time in one day so she could look at him. When he was satisfied with the way she was looking at him, he went on. "Don't let Trish get to you. She's being the world's biggest bitch today, and I don't know why. But you should know that... Well, she doesn't know what she's talking about." He leaned a little closer to her. "Maybe she doesn't know it, but you're a great person."

"Thanks," she said, staring up into his eyes. Suddenly, she felt a lot better, and so she told him. "I feel so much better now, Chris... Really."

"Glad to hear it," he said, smiling at her. Before she knew what was happening, he put his arms around her and gave her a quick hug. "Now come on," he said, pulling away much too soon for her liking. "Let's get to our Aerobics class."

"_Our_ Aerobics class?" she inquired.

"_Our_ Aerobics class," he confirmed. He laughed at the look on her face. "What? A guy can' t have an Aerobics class?"

"I just never imagined having a class with you," she said truthfully. "I thought it would be impossible for me to have any kind of class with you."

"Impossible things are happening everyday," he said, winking at her.

"You _so_ stole that from Cinderella," she accused him, but she couldn't help but smile. "You're so corny."

"What are you talking about?" he asked in mock surprise. "These days, corny is cool!"

They laughed, and together they walked over to where their class was sitting on the bleachers...

**A/N: I know this chapter might seem kinda dumb but it's just a sort of set up chapter. I can't really explain. It'll get better at some point. I have some CRAZY ideas. You guys haven't seen the last of Trish, LOL!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"Now that we're all here, it's time for us to go to _our_ room," the Aerobics teacher, Mr. Brisco, said. "Before you all ask, yeah, we have our own Aerobics room," he said, seeing the looks on their faces. "So come on, follow me."

They all followed the teacher across the crowded gym. There were three other gym classes going on at the same time, so it was extremely loud. As Steph followed the teacher to the Aerobics room with Chris on one side of her and Ty on the other side, she couldn't help but think that this was probably going to be the best period ever, and quite possibly, her favorite class.

Mr. Brisco led them through some double doors at the back of the gym and into a small room. The room had a shiny wooden floor, a door leading outside, and three huge windows. The most intriguing part of the room, however, were the mirrors that covered the entire back wall.

"I'm sure you're all wondering why we have mirrors on the back wall," Mr. Brisco said, sitting Indian-style on the floor. "Well those are here so we can watch ourselves when we _do it_."

"Watch ourselves when we _do it_?" Chris repeated. He smirked. "I've never really been into that kind of kinky stuff."

Everyone laughed a little, and Mr. Brisco glared at Chris for a minute before laughing, too. "You're lucky I like you, Irvine. You _know_ I was talking about Aerobics."

"He already knows you?" Steph asked, one eyebrow raised. "Have you taken this class before?"

"No. I've been knowing Mr. B since I was in middle school, when I first got into weight training and weight lifting," Chris said, sitting down on the floor and looking up at Steph. She sat down next to him, and Ty sat down near her. "And he likes me because I helped him save his marriage."

"You helped him save his marriage? Wow," Steph said, awed. "How'd you do that?"

"It's a long story," he said with a sigh. "But someday we'll sit down together and I'll tell you all about it. I've never told anyone about it before."

"Why not?" she asked curiously.

"Some things are just not meant to be broadcasted all over the place, you know? And that, in my opinion, is one of those things," he said, shrugging.

"That's true," she said, nodding in agreement. "You know, I think you-"

Just then, the door to the Aerobics room opened, and a very familiar guy walked in. He walked over to Mr. Brisco. "Sorry I'm late. I got a little...caught up...with someone in the hallway," he apologized. "But a security guard in the courtyard scanned my ID and gave me a tardy already."

"Ok," Mr. Brisco said, looking down at his attendance sheet. "What's your name?"

"Levesque," the guy said, turning to look at the other students. His eyes roamed over all of the students. There were eighteen girls and only one guy besides himself. His eyes rested on Steph, and he smiled. "Paul Levesque."

"Ok, Levesque, go ahead and take a seat somewhere. We're not really doing anything today," Mr. Brisco told him.

"Sure thing," Paul said. He made a beeline over to where Steph, Chris, and Ty were sitting together. He sat down right in front of Steph and leaned back a little, just looking at her.

"Paul?" Chris spoke up after a few moments.

"Yeah?" Paul asked, never taking his eyes off Steph.

"What the hell are you looking at her like that for?" Chris asked bluntly.

"Is it against the law for a guy to look at a pretty girl these days?" Paul asked.

"No," Chris retorted. "But I recall telling you earlier in the courtyard that she's only 14 and she's too young for _you_."

"And I'm supposed to take _you_ seriously?" Paul scoffed. "Please, _spare _me."

"I can _make_ you take me seriously," Chris threatened, standing up.

"Then _make_ me," Paul shot back, standing up as well. He towered over Chris by at least a good three or four inches in height, but Chris didn't look intimidated at all.

"This is ridiculous," Steph said, standing up as the two young men glared at each other. She had never known that Chris was so very protective of her, and she had never known that he was such a hothead, but now she noticed that he was just as much of a hothead as Shane. It was flattering to know that he would be willing to stand up and fight for her, but she didn't want him to get into any fights because of her. It was his senior year, after all, and any little altercations could complicate his entire year. No, she definitely didn't want to be the cause of that.

"Ridiculous? I'll tell you what's ridiculous, Steph," Chris said, still in Paul's face. "The fact that this guy thinks I'll just sit back and let you become another one of his female victims."

"Female victims? You've _got_ to be kidding me," Paul said, rolling his eyes. "You better stop bad-mouthing me, Irvine."

"Chris, it's not worth it," Steph said, putting her hand on Chris's arm when she noticed how tense he was. "Why don't we move to the other side of the room or something?"

"Yeah," Ty said, standing up as well. By then, the whole class was watching, wondering what would happen. It was funny how Mr. Brisco hadn't attempted to do anything to stop the situation from escalating. "Let's just move to the other side of the classroom."

Chris was silent for a moment, still glaring at Paul. Finally, after what seemed like forever, he looked back at Steph. "Fine," he said. "I'll move. But if he comes over and starts trying to work his tired game on you again, Steph, I swear I'm going to..."

"He _won't_," Steph said, glaring at Paul. "I don't know him very well, but I think he's smart enough to understand when a girl's not interested in him."

"You act like I'm in _love_ with you or something," Paul said to Steph. "I'm only trying to get to know you..." He shrugged. "But you're not the only female in this classroom."

"Whatever," Steph said, pulling Chris's arm again. "Come on, Chris."

"You stay away from her," Chris warned Paul. He glared at him for another hot second before turning and following Steph over to the other side of the room. They walked over to the other side of the room and sat down together, leaning against the wall. Chris leaned his head against the wall and sighed, then closed his eyes.

"Why do you let him get to you like that?" Steph asked him, looking at him as he leaned his head against the wall. _God, he is absolutely gorgeous with his eyes closed like that_, she thought, but of course she wasn't going to say that out loud.

"I'm usually able to control my temper around school, but there's always just been something off about him. I just don't like him," Chris said, opening his eyes. He looked at Steph. "And I especially don't like the fact that he's trying to talk to you. I don't like that at all."

They sat there in silence until the bell finally rang at 2:15 P.M., officially ending the first day of school.

"Finally," Chris said, standing up. He held his hand out to Steph and pulled her to her feet. He glared across the room at Paul before looking back at Steph again. "Let's get out of here before _he_ comes over here... I'm not so sure I'd be able to resist kicking his butt all over this room."

"So Ty, did I hear your sister say that she made you ride the bus to school today?" Steph asked a few minutes later as she, Ty, and Chris made their way through the crowded hallways on their way to the student parking lot.

"Yeah, unfortunately," Ty said with a sigh. "The kids on my bus are total pigs."

"I still can't believe Trish would treat you this way," Chris said, one hand on Steph's book bag as they walked. "I mean, I've always known that she's sort of obsessed with popularity but this is just too much."

"I know..." Ty's voice trailed off as they finally reached the student parking lot. "So... I guess I'll see you tomorrow, Steph. I've got to go get on the bus so I can find a good seat."

"That's dumb. Come with me," Steph said. "I'm sure Shane wouldn't mind giving you a ride home."

"Really? Shane?" Ty asked, suddenly excited. "As in your hot big brother Shane?"

"I don't know about hot, but yeah, my brother," Steph replied, and Chris laughed.

"You don't have to tell me twice then," Ty said, beaming. "Lead the way."

They walked over to where Shane had parked earlier that morning. Ty slowly walked around Shane's car, admiring it. Chris, who had parked next to Shane, popped his trunk open and tossed his book bag inside. Closing his trunk, he leaned against the side of his car and looked at Steph. "So, on a scale of one to ten, what was your first day like?" he asked her.

"Let's see... A lot of bad things happened, but then there was you, and you made them all better," Steph said, leaning against Shane's car. "Based on that, I'd say it was a ten."

"I made them better?" he asked, smiling at her. "Really?"

"Are you kidding me, Chris?" she asked, slowly running her tongue over her bottom lip. "You defended me, you showed me where my classes were, you gave me a tour... You were really there for me today, and you didn't even have to be."

"I wanted to be," he said, stepping closer to her. "You know, I've been waiting for a long time for you to get here at Spritzville."

"Why?" she asked.

"Well, because I like being around you," he said, putting one hand on the car on one side of her and leaning closer to her. "I haven't really gotten the chance to see much of you lately, you know? And you've...you've really grown up."

"I know," she said. She was nervous already as he leaned in front of her, looking at her in that way that he was looking at her.

"I can still remember the days when we used to all play in the club house in your backyard," he said, laughing. "Those were the good old days, in the club house."

"Just the club house? What about the playroom?" she asked pointedly. "I can remember us always being in the playroom."

"Ah, the playroom! How could I forget about the playroom?" he asked, sounding awed that he'd forgotten. "You and Shane had the best playroom on the block. _Everybody_ wanted to come to your house, just to play in your playroom."

"Daddy remodeled it. He turned it into a sort of entertainment room for us," she told him. "It's pretty awesome now... Maybe you could come over sometime and see it."

"Yeah," he said, leaning even closer to her. He looked down at her lips. "Maybe... Maybe I could come over sometime and _you_ could show it to me."

She looked up at him and couldn't believe just how unbelievably close he was standing to her. His lips were inches away. All she had to do was close the distance and she'd be kissing him...

"Chris!" a shrill voice interrupted.

Chris and Steph both looked over in the direction that the shrill voice had come from. It was Trish, and she looked, quite frankly, pissed.

"Trish? Uh, what's up?" Chris asked, backing away from Steph with a guilty look on his face. "You look mad. What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? What's _wrong_?" Trish repeated. "What's _wrong_ is that you forgot to meet me after sixth period, in favor of hanging out with my little sister and her friend! That's what's wrong!"

"I honestly forgot," Chris said. "But really, it's not like you can't walk out to the parking lot by yourself without getting lost."

"That's not the point," Trish said, sending a stony look Steph's way. "The point is that ever since _she _got here this morning, you've been ignoring me!"

"I haven't been ignoring you, Trish," Chris said with a sigh. "It's just, Steph's new here, and she's my friend. The least I could do was help her out today."

"Whatever, Chris," Trish said. She looked over and saw Ty. "And what are you doing over here? You know you're supposed to be riding the bus home."

"My brother's going to give her a ride home," Steph spoke up. "So she doesn't _need_ to ride the bus home."

"Excuse me, did you say something to me?" Trish asked, looking at Steph.

"Yeah, I said-" Steph started, but she got cut off.

"I didn't think so," Trish interrupted. "Because, last time I checked, freshmen don't talk to me."

"Trish, that's enough," Chris said quietly.

"Whatever. Ty, go wait by the car," Trish said. "And if anyone asks, you're just a kid I'm taking home because I feel sorry for you."

Ty nodded and looked at the ground, embarrassed. "Bye Steph, bye Chris," she mumbled, then walked away, still looking at the ground.

"Why do you treat her like that?" Steph asked. "She's your _sister_. My brother would never treat _me_ like that."

"It's none of your business, little girl," Trish snapped. She looked at Chris. "Walk me to my car. _Now_."

"Fine," Chris said in a strained voice, not looking at Steph. Trish turned and started walking away and Chris followed, right on her heels like a trained puppy.

Steph watched them make their way over to a shiny silver Mercedes where Ty was waiting. Trish leaned against the driver's side of the car and looked up at Chris. They started talking, and then Trish started waving her hands around, as if she was placing emphasis on a point she was trying to make. Chris started waving his hands around, too, also trying to make a point. Steph watched intently, because it looked like they were having an argument. Chris started to walk away, shaking his head, and Trish followed, grabbing his arm and turning her around to face him again. Then she smiled, put her arms around him, and pulled him down for a kiss. Steph swallowed hard when she saw him kiss Trish back.

"You're now witnessing the Chris and Trish saga," Shane said dramatically from next to her.

"I didn't know you were standing there," Steph said, one hand on her chest.

"Yeah. So, I notice you're watching the soap opera today," he said, looking over at Chris and Trish.

"Soap opera?" she asked, looking over at the couple as well.

"Yeah. That's what their relationship is like. She gets ticked off at him for no reason at all, and she yells at him and stuff, and sometimes when she's feeling bold, she slaps him," he said, shaking his head.

"She _slaps_ him?"

"Yeah. I keep telling him to get out of that relationship, but something about her just keeps him with her, and I don't know what it is... Maybe it's the sex."

"They...sleep together?" she asked carefully.

"Well, yeah," he laughed, as if that had been completely obvious. "I mean, that's the only thing I can think of that she'd use to keep him."

She closed her eyes for a minute, then took a deep breath and turned away from the scene in front of her. "Shane, I'm ready to go home. Today's been a long day."

"Where's Ames at?" he asked, looking around.

"No clue," she replied, forcing herself not to turn around and look at Chris and Trish. "I haven't seen her since right after fifth period."

"Oh," he said. "Well, we have to wait on her and C-Dawg..."

C-Dawg showed up about two minutes later, and then, five minutes later, Amy came rushing over to the car, where Shane, C-Dawg, and Steph were sitting watching some silly DVD Shane had bought. Amy knocked lightly on Shane's window, and Shane let the window down.

"Where's your book bag?" Shane asked immediately.

"Um, I'm catching a ride home with Matt, Adam, and their friend Sean," Amy said, biting her lip. "You know Sean? He's a senior."

"Sean Waltman?" Shane asked.

"Yeah, that's him," Amy said, smiling. "He's giving me a ride home. They're all so cool..."

"Cool, huh?" Shane asked, looking away from her.

"Cool and hot. I didn't know that combination was possible..." Amy's voice trailed off. She shook her head and smiled. "Anyway, I'm off! Oh yeah, and Steph, I'm going to call you tonight. A _lot_ happened today..." And with a quick wave, she was gone, her red hair flying in the wind.

"Today's been a long day," Shane said, watching her go and cranking up the car. He backed up, then started driving through the parking lot, headed for the exit. He drove by Trish and Chris, who were still making out.

"Agreed," Steph said, unable to stop looking. "A very long day..."

**A/N: Sorry this chapter is so long. I just had to get the first day of school over. I can't believe it took me five chapters to do it! But don't worry, I just had the perfect idea for something that's going to happen... It's going to be great!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

The next day came, and it was more of the same thing for Steph. She hung around Chris, Ty, Amy, Shane, and C-Dawg throughout the day, and she always had the occasional run-in with Trish. It quickly became a sort of routine, and before she even noticed, the first week of school had passed and it was Friday afternoon.

"Mom, do you remember what we talked about?" Steph asked. She, along with Shane and her mom, were sitting at the table having their daily talk. That was a routine for them. They always had a talk after school. Linda felt like her children were growing up so fast, and she didn't want to miss a single second...

"Refresh my memory, dear," Linda said. "Because we talk about a lot of things, and I can't remember every single one of them."

"Remember when I asked you if I could have a sleepover?" Steph reminded her. "It was Wednesday when I asked you."

"Oh, right, Wednesday. The sleepover. Yes, I remember," Linda said.

"A sleepover?" Shane scoffed, flipping through a magazine. "I thought you quit that in middle school."

"If you must know, sleepovers are very popular among high school females," Steph said petulantly. "I bet a lot of girls at our school have sleepovers, like, all the time."

"So, Steph," Linda said, interrupting them so an argument wouldn't start. "When did you want to have this sleepover again?"

"Mom, it's tonight, remember? You said I could have it tonight," Steph said. "You forgot?"

"Tonight? No way," Shane cut in, putting his magazine down. "Because Dad said _I _could have some friends over tonight."

"Nuh uh! You and I can't both have friends over tonight!" Steph said. "Your friends will crash my slumber party."

"I thought it was a sleepover," Shane said.

"Same thing," Steph said, narrowing her eyes at him.

The two siblings glared at each other across the table. Linda looked at each one of them, then spoke. "You know, you two could just compromise. You can both have friends over tonight."

"Mom, I don't think that's going to work. Steph and her friends will come drooling over my friends, especially..." His voice trailed off as he looked at his sister. "Especially since _Chris_ is coming over."

"Chris? Chris is coming over?" Steph asked, sitting up a little straighter in her seat.

"Yeah, but he's coming over to hang out with _me_," Shane replied. "You know, I've barely had a chance to see him this week. If he's not hanging out with you, he's hanging out with Trish..."

"Whatever. It's not my fault," Steph argued. "Maybe he's just sick of-"

"Children!" Linda said in a loud voice. They both got quiet and looked at her. "You two never argue this much. Here's the deal. You can both have two friends over, just two. Remember, I have to go out of town to be with your dad this evening," she reminded them.

"What? I don't remember you mentioning that," Shane said.

"Yeah, me neither," Steph said, frowning.

"I guess I just forgot to tell you," Linda said, looking thoughtful. "But maybe that's a good thing, because now you don't have the time to plan any big parties."

"Oh, Mom," Shane said with a laugh. "I could plan a huge party in ten minutes..."

"Is that so?" Linda asked. Shane nodded. "Well I guess I don't need to leave you two _alone_ this weekend like I planned... I guess I'll just call over Moolah so she can baby-sit you two."

"Moolah?" both teens said, looking at each other with wide eyes.

"Moolah," Linda confirmed, nodding emphatically. "She is _fabulous_."

"That would be cruel and unusual punishment," Shane said.

"I agree with Shane, Mom," Steph said immediately. "We'll be perfectly fine by ourselves this weekend, and Shane won't plan any huge parties."

"That's what I thought," Linda said, smiling. She stood up. "I'm about to go pack, but let me just say this. I'm trusting you two. If things don't go well this weekend then I won't ever leave the two of you alone together again."

"Can we still each have two friends over?" Shane asked.

"Well, I _did_ promise, and I don't go back on promises," Linda said. "So, yes. Now I'm going to go pack. My flight leaves tonight around eight or so."

"Ok, Mom. Tell Daddy hi for us," Steph said, watching her mother walk away. When her mother was out of her sight, she turned to Shane. "So Chris is coming over?"

"Yeah, both Chris and C-Dawg are coming over," Shane said, leaning back in his chair. "Who are _you_ inviting over?"

"Amy and Ty, of course," she replied, studying his face when she mentioned Amy's name.

"Oh, so Ames is coming over?" he asked curiously. She nodded. "And how long is she staying?"

"I was thinking that she would stay until Sunday or maybe even Monday."

"School's Monday."

"Well, obviously. But this way, it would save you some gas."

"Right. Because all of a sudden I'm a chauffeur, taking you and your friends everywhere."

"Like you really mind," Steph said, standing up and walking around the table to where he was standing.

Shane looked up at her as she stood next to him. "Um, Steph? What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm giving you a hug, silly! You've been great this week," she replied, leaning down and giving him a hug. She kissed him on the cheek. "You don't have to take me and my friends where we want to go, but you take us anyway. You're the best big brother in the world."

"Aw, I don't mind taking you guys around," he said, blushing. "I'm going to go upstairs and look for some stuff."

"Later," she called after him as he left the room. She snickered to herself. "The best big brother in the world... That line always works like a charm..."

_**Later That Evening**_

"And remember what I told you. No parties," Linda said for the third time.

"We remember, Mom. No parties," Shane said. "You can totally trust us."

"I hope so," Linda said as she headed for the door.

"You really can, Mom," Steph assured her. She gave her mother a kiss on the cheek, then smiled. "You better leave now if you want to make your flight."

"You're right. Be good, kids," Linda said, and then she disappeared out the door.

"Finally, we have the house to ourselves!" Shane said excitedly. He looked at Steph. "And when are your friends getting here?"

"See, that's the problem... They don't exactly have a ride here," she said. "I was kind of hoping that maybe you could pick them up for me..."

"And when were you going to tell me this?" he demanded.

"Sometime soon," she replied. She stuck out her bottom lip and started pouting. "So will you pick them up?"

"I have to pick C-Dawg up, too, so sure," he said, giving in. "But you have to stay here in case Chris shows up."

"Not a problem," she said, smiling.

"Great. So if Chris shows up while I'm gone, well, just let him in. He knows his way around this place," he said, walking into the den to grab his keys. He had left them on the coffee table in the den earlier.

"Oh, one more thing," she said. "Could you stop by the store and pick this stuff up for me?" From her back pocket, she pulled out a small list and a fifty dollar bill.

"What? Ok, so now I'm going grocery shopping, too?"

"Pleeeease?" she pleaded. "I'll let you keep the change," she offered, wiggling her eyebrows playfully.

"Whatever, Steph, I'll do all this stuff for you," he said finally, taking the list and the money. He looked over the list and scowled. "But you owe me big time."

"I'll make it up to you, bro," she said, sitting down on the couch. She watched him leave, then picked up the phone. She called Amy and Ty and told them that Shane would pick them up soon, then got off the phone and went to take a shower. She was in the middle of taking her shower when she heard the doorbell ring.

_Great_, she thought to herself as she stepped out of the shower. _I'm in the middle of taking a shower, and someone decides to show up..._ She wrapped a towel around herself, wrapped her hair in a towel, slipped on some slides, then made her way downstairs and to the front door. When she peeked through the peephole, her stomach tied itself in knots. It was Chris... All of a sudden, she wished she had put on more clothes, or really, any clothes at all. The towel wasn't going to leave anything to his imagination...

"Hey," she said, finally opening the door. "Hurry up and come inside. I was in the middle of my shower..."

"I see," Chris said, stepping inside the house. He pushed the door shut behind himself and locked it, then leaned against it and looked at her. "So are you making a fashion statement? Is the fluffy towel the new fashion craze?"

"Not exactly," she replied, looking down at the towel that was thrown around her. "But if you'll excuse me, I really need to go and finish my shower."

"Ok... Where's Shane?" he asked.

"He went to run some errands for me. He should be back within the next hour," she said, pulling the towel tighter around her. For some reason, a remark Shane had made on the first day of school ran through her mind... _Maybe it's the sex._ And all of a sudden, she felt like she needed to get out of Chris's sight, because if Chris was sleeping with Trish, then he would've seen her naked plenty times, and Steph's body, while nice and slender, couldn't even _begin_ to compare with Trish's.

"You have your brother whipped," he said, smirking a little. "I've never seen a girl have her older brother in the palm of her hand like you have Shane."

"What can I say? I guess he just loves me," she said, smiling. "I mean, really, do you think he could resist loving me?"

"I don't think so. I can't," he said in a low voice.

"What?" She looked at him, eyebrows raised. "What do you mean?"

"Steph, Steph, Steph..." His voice trailed off as he looked into her eyes. He sighed. "Go finish your shower."

"But you said-" she started.

"Shhh," he said, putting a finger to her lips to silence her. The finger stayed there for a minute, and then he moved it and cupped her face in one hand, his thumb gently rubbing against her lips. "Do you know what Shane would think if he happened to walk in here right now?"

"He'd think the worst," she breathed, reaching up to touch the hand he was cupping her face with. His hand felt warm and strong, and she couldn't believe she actually had her hand on his.

"Right. And we can't let him think that, because then he'd be really pissed at me," he went on, now bringing his other hand up to touch the other side of her face.

"Yeah, he'd be pissed," she echoed, wondering what he would do next. She was practically shivering as she noticed him leaning closer...and closer...

"You know, I'm gonna go put my stuff in a guest bedroom," he said, abruptly pulling away from her. His lips had been just inches, INCHES away from hers. "You go finish your shower, and then you can show me how your dad remodeled the old playroom."

"Um, ok," she agreed. She turned around and hurried away, but she could feel his eyes on her the whole time...

_**Twenty Minutes Later**_

"There you are," Steph said, walking into the den downstairs and spotting Chris sitting on the couch. "Ready for that tour of the old playroom?"

Chris looked up at her and his mouth dropped. He quickly closed his mouth as he took in what she was wearing, which wasn't really much. A shirt. Some short shorts. Some flip flops... "Uh, yeah," he said, swallowing hard as he stood up. "Yeah, let's do this tour."

They walked in silence up to the old playroom, which was in the attic. The entire attic had once been filled with every single toy a young child could want, every single toy that was on the market, it seemed. Chris had been right. All the kids had wanted to come to the McMahon mansion, if only just to get in the playroom. They walked up to the third floor, then up the smaller staircase leading to the attic. They stopped at the top of the small flight of stairs.

Steph put one hand on the doorknob. "Are you ready to be amazed?" she asked in a voice that made her sound like a game show host.

"Steph, I'm already amazed," Chris teased. "You never cease to amaze me."

She smiled at him. "I'll take that as a yes." She opened the door and stepped inside the dark attic, and he followed. She flipped on the light. "Tada!"

"Wow," he said, looking around. "It's so different from the way it used to be!"

"Different in a good way or a bad way?" she asked.

"A good way," he answered. "I mean, you can't go wrong with a plasma TV."

"I know. It's great up here," she agreed. "So, um, look around or whatever."

She watched him walk slowly around the room, observing all the different things that was in there. "Oh, a Karaoke machine. I think we'll have fun with this," he said, more to himself than to her. He kept walking, and pretty soon, he came to some thick padded mats in the corner of the room. "What are these for?" he asked her, gesturing towards the mats.

"Oh, those," she said, walking over to him. "Those are for when we want to wrestle... Or pretend to wrestle, anyway."

"You don't wrestle, do you?" he asked, one eyebrow raised.

"It's in my blood. Of course I wrestle," she countered. "Why? You don't think I do?"

"I can't imagine you wrestling," he said, shaking his head. "I can't imagine what your moves would be like."

"You perv, you just wanna _see _my moves," she joked, feeling extremely bold all of a sudden. "But that's ok. I'll show you... Wrestle me, right now."

"You can't be serious," he said in an amused voice. "You _do_ know that I'm the captain of our school's wrestling team, right?"

"So?" she asked. "I'll beat you."

"You don't _really _want any of this, Stephanie McMahon," he said, taking his t-shirt off and throwing it aside.

She had to force herself not to drool at the sight of his muscular upper body. She found herself staring...hard. "You have a really nice body, Chris," she said softly.

"Thanks," he said. "So do you."

She shook her head to somehow clear her mind, then said, "So? Are we wrestling or not?"

"I have the unfair advantage. I weigh more than you," he said. "I could pin you easily."

"I doubt that..."

"You _doubt _the great Chris Irvine? See, _now _we have a problem..."

And with that, he put his arms around her and they started wrestling. They weren't serious at all. They were just playing around.

"You put up a good fight, Miss McMahon, but I see I got you on your back," he said about five minutes later. And indeed, he was right. He leaned over her as she laid on her back, looking up at him. Both of them were breathing hard.

"I guess you're right," she said. "You got me on my back... But I'm sure I'm not the first girl you've done that to."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing," she said quickly. "Just something I was wondering about, that's all."

"Well tell me. What was that comment for?" he asked.

"Are you sleeping with Trish?" she blurted out. Immediately, she felt herself blushing. She couldn't believe she'd just come out and asked him that.

He looked at her for a minute, then laughed softly. "No," he replied, touching her cheek. "Why?"

"Shane seems to think so."

"Shane's wrong. I'm saving myself for the right girl...and that girl _isn't _Trish."

"Wow," she said, feeling relieved. It felt like a heavy weight that had been pinning her down since Monday afternoon was finally lifted. "Who's the lucky girl?"

"See, I can't tell you," he said, leaning down until his lips were about two inches away from hers. "No one else knows, so if I told you, I'd have to kill you."

"Oh..." She gazed up into his blue eyes, then looked at his lips, those lips she dreamed about kissing.

"You're a bold girl, Steph. I like that," he whispered, lips coming ever closer. Just one more inch, just one, and his lips would be on hers...

"STEPH? CHRIS? Where are you guys hiding at?" came a loud voice. Shane.

Chris sighed and pulled away from Steph. "We're up here in the old playroom," he called as Steph sat up and looked at him.

"Then get down here!" C-Dawg called in a playful tone. "Before you force me to come up there and kick some ass!"

Steph stood up, and so did Chris. They both looked at each other for a minute, then headed for the door. But before they left, she touched his arm, and he turned around to look at her.

"You're really not sleeping with her?" she asked.

"No, I'm not. Believe it or not, I'm a virgin," he said proudly. "And I'm saving myself for someone special... But don't tell your brother, because he'd never stop teasing me about it."

"I wouldn't dream of telling him," she said, smiling at him. "It'll be our little secret."

"Our little secret," he agreed.

He smiled back at her, and then they left the playroom and headed downstairs where their friends were waiting...

**A/N: I am so surprised at the reactions I'm getting for this story! But I love it, and I love writing this story. Thanks for the support...**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"What are you guys smiling for?" Shane asked suspiciously as Chris and Steph came down the stairs together.

Chris looked at Steph and smiled, then looked at Shane. "What? Two friends aren't allowed to smile together?" he asked. "I believe there's been a law passed that states that two friends are definitely allowed to smile together, and afterwards they can go skinny-dipping in the pool."

"When the hell was that law passed, and why are you just telling me about it?" C-Dawg asked, furrowing his brow. "Man, I could've been skinny-dipping with Torrie Wilson for all this time..."

"Dude. I was being sarcastic," Chris said, laughing at C-Dawg. He looked at Shane. "Now seriously, Steph was just showing me how your dad had the old playroom remodeled. That place is even better now than it was before!"

"Showing you the playroom, huh?" Shane asked. Chris and Steph nodded, and Shane looked at both of them. "I'll be keeping my eyes on you two this weekend," he told them, but of course he was just kidding. He didn't really expect them to be doing anything they shouldn't be doing. After all, Chris was his best friend, and he was three years older than Steph. And he had a girlfriend in Trish... So he didn't expect a thing.

"Ok," Ty said, clapping her hands together excitedly. "What are we doing first?"

"Well first, I think I need to set some rules, since I'm the man of the house this weekend," Shane said in a deep voice, trying to imitate his father. He walked three steps up the staircase, then turned around to face the five people he was now towering over. "The first rule is..."

"Rules? You know what I always say about that," C-Dawg said dramatically. "RUCK FULES!"

"Don't you mean fu-" Ames started, but Shane interrupted.

"You didn't let me finish, C-Dawg," Shane said. "Basically... There aren't really any rules, except-"

"Now that's what I'm talking about," C-Dawg said, nodding happily. He pulled out his cell phone and started dialing a number. "House party, baby! At the McMahon mansion! Be there or be square!"

"What the hell are you doing?" Shane asked, snatching the cell phone from him. He spoke into the phone. "_John_ is just kidding with you. There's no party at the McMahon mansion, so don't come here. Thanks." He snapped the phone shut and glared at C-Dawg. "Ok, really, let me finish this time," he said.

"Why'd you hang the phone up?" C-Dawg asked mildly.

"Because, dude, my mom specifically said we couldn't have any parties this weekend," Shane explained. "Or else, she would..." His voice trailed off, and he gulped. "Steph, you tell him what Mom said she'd do if we broke her trust this weekend."

Steph gulped as well, and her voice came out low. "She said she'd hire _Moolah_ to _baby-sit_ us!"

"Oh my God, not that old bat!" C-Dawg said, grimacing. "She baby-sat me once when I was, like, eleven, and she kept trying to come on to me."

"When you were _eleven_?" Ty asked in disbelief.

"Eleven," C-Dawg said. "I've had nightmares about her for years now..."

"Enough talk about Moolah," Shane said with a shudder. He looked at Steph "Where are your girls sleeping tonight?"

"I was thinking either in my room or outside under the stars," Steph said.

"Someone sounds like a romantic at heart," Chris said in a dreamy voice, teasing Steph. "Outside under the stars..."

"Shut up," Steph said playfully, shoving him lightly. He just laughed.

Shane watched them for a minute, then spoke. "So I was thinking that us guys could camp out in the den," he said finally. "You know, watch some movies or whatever."

"Watch some movies?" C-Dawg scoffed. "No, see, I have a better idea."

"Enlighten us, then," Amy piped up.

"I propose that we all stay _together_ instead of separating," C-Dawg said. "We can all just hang out and play some games or something."

"That sounds like a plan to me," Chris said immediately. He looked over at Steph, who was already looking at him. "Doesn't that sound like a good idea, Steph?"

"It's a great idea," Steph agreed. "We should totally do that."

Everyone looked at Shane to see if he would give his approval. He was the man of the house, after all, even if it was only for the weekend. He looked like he was deep in thought. Finally, he spoke. "I'm sure that'll make tonight a very interesting night, so we should do it," he said. "Oh yeah, and Steph? The stuff you sent me to the store for is in the kitchen on the counter."

"Even the ice cream?" Steph asked. Shane nodded. "You monkey! It's probably melting as we speak!" She sprinted away and into the kitchen, where she found the ice cream and put it in the freezer. She went back over to the counter. "Let's see... Whipped cream, chocolate syrup, strawberries, Oreos, M&M's..." She named everything out loud. She smiled when she was done. "Good. He got it all."

"Whipped cream? Chocolate syrup?" Chris asked from behind her. She turned around. "Mind telling me what you got this for?"

Steph thought about _why_ she had gotten the stuff and smirked at him. There was no way she was going to tell him, or her plan would be ruined. "Oh, you boys will find out soon enough," she said mysteriously.

"You aren't going to tell me?" he asked.

"Nope," she said, leaning against the counter and looking at him.

"Not even if I ask nicely?" he asked, taking one step closer.

"Not a chance," she replied.

"Not even if I do this?" he asked, closing the distance between them. He put one hand on the counter on one side of her, and the other hand on the counter on the other side of her. He gazed down into her eyes and smirked. "Care to tell me now?"

"N-no," she stammered, looking up into his eyes. She couldn't bring herself to look away. His blue eyes were hypnotic... "I'll never tell you," she said after a minute. "No matter what."

"What if I did this?" he asked, leaning down until his lips were what seemed like just millimeters away. He looked at her for a minute, then closed the distance between them and kissed her right on the lips. He removed his hand from the counter and placed one arm around her waist. The other hand made its way up to her hair...

Although she was surprised at first, she responded immediately. How could she not? After all, this had been her dream, her _fantasy_, for years now. She put her arms around him and kissed him back, wishing that it could last forever.

"Stephanie," he whispered, breaking the kiss for an instant. He closed his eyes and brushed his lips over hers again, then leaned his forehead against hers. He pulled her close to him. "Steph..."

"What'd you do that for?" she whispered back. "You have a girlfriend, remember?"

"Yeah... But I adore you, you know that?" he asked softly, opening his eyes. He softly touched her hair as he looked at her. "I truly adore you."

"Really?" she asked, looking at him. "I adore you, too..."

"Now what did you get all that stuff for?" he asked, smiling a little smile.

"I'm not telling you," she replied.

"Maybe I'll just have to kiss it out of you," he said in a low voice. "Or squeeze it out of you...or something..." He kissed her cheek, then right near her lips...

"Steph! Shane says..." Ty's voice trailed off as she entered the kitchen and spotted Chris placing soft kisses on Steph's face. "Wow," she said, not believing what she was seeing.

"And that, Steph, is the way you...uh...massage a giraffe," Chris said brightly, improvising and trying to cover up what had really just happened. _That didn't work too well_, he thought._ Massage a giraffe? Way to go, Chris_. He let Steph go, smiled at her, and then hurried out of the kitchen, blushing the whole time. Steph turned to face Ty.

"Well," Ty said in a grave voice. "There's really nothing to say about this situation. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Ok, I know you're probably kind of mad at me right now," Steph began. "I mean, he's your sister's boyfriend and-"

"Oh, _please_. Who's thinking about Trish?" Ty asked, giggling. "I only want all the juicy details!"

"And I'll give them to you," Steph promised, smiling. "But first we have to put this stuff up, go get Ames, and go up to my room for a little girl talk."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Ty asked. "Let's go!"

Steph and Ty quickly put the food and things up, then went to find Amy. She was talking to Shane, which wasn't very surprising. They looked like they were deep in conversation. C-Dawg and Chris were leaning against the wall near the stairs talking about something.

"You think we should interrupt their conversation?" Ty asked, looking at Shane and Amy.

"That depends," Steph said.

"On what?" Ty asked.

"On how much you _really_ want to know the juicy details," Steph replied, raising her eyebrows.

"Oh Ames," Ty said in a singsong voice, walking over to her. She grabbed her arm and started to pull her up the stairs. "We need to have a girl talk. _Now_."

"Seriously? But I'm in the middle of..." Amy's voice trailed off when Ty leaned over and whispered something into her ear. "_Oh_," she said, starting to smile. "Yeah, let's go."

"Where are you girls going?" C-Dawg piped up. He and Chris had stopped talking and were both looking over at the three girls. Chris was staring particularly hard at Steph and unconsciously licking his lips.

"We're going upstairs to talk strategy," Steph said, looking at Chris, then at Shane. "You see, Shane...whether you know it or not, that stuff you brought me back from the store will serve a very..._sweet_...purpose tonight."

Shane looked at her, confused. "What are you talking about?"

Steph smiled sweetly at him, then looked at Chris. "I'll never tell," she said. She watched Chris smile slightly at her comment before she turned and headed up the stairs, followed by Amy and Ty.

"I wonder what she was talking about," Shane said.

"She was being all cryptic, yo," C-Dawg said.

Chris tapped his chin thoughtfully, then looked at the two other guys. "Know what? I think I have an idea..."

_**In Steph's Room**_

"Ok," Amy said, closing the door to Steph's bedroom. They all climbed onto Steph's bed and sat Indian-style. "Give us all the details about what happened in the kitchen!"

"Here's what happened," Steph began. "I went in the kitchen to put the ice cream in the freezer, and when I was looking at the other stuff, Chris came in."

"You know, he said he was going to the bathroom," Ty cut in. "But obviously that was just an excuse to go in the kitchen with you..."

"Yeah, I guess it was," Steph mused. "But anyway, he wanted to know what I got all that stuff for."

"You didn't tell him, did you?" Amy asked worriedly. "Because then we wouldn't be able to go through with that brilliant plan you told us about when you called us earlier to tell us that Shane was picking us up."

"Don't worry. I didn't tell him," Steph assured her. "But Lord did he try his hardest to get the truth out of me..."

"Details, details, details!" Ty practically shrieked. "Or I'll die!"

"Calm down, girl," Steph laughed as she looked at the bubbly blonde. "So we were talking and somehow I ended up leaning against the counter and all of a sudden he had his arms around me, and he kissed me..." Her voice trailed off and she closed her eyes, remembering how good his lips had felt against hers and the way he had tasted...

"What was it like?" Amy asked, one hand over her mouth.

"Yeah, what was it like?" Ty questioned.

"Words can't describe it," Steph breathed. "I mean, I'm sure that sounds clichéd to you guys, but that's how it felt. It was just...breathtaking...incredible..."

"Wow," both Ty and Amy said, looking at Steph.

"But then you came in, Ty, right as he was about to kiss me again," Steph went on.

"Sorry," Ty said apologetically. "It's just...Shane asked me to tell you to come in there for a minute..."

"It's ok," Steph told her. She smiled. "And besides, we have a goal here tonight, in case you guys have forgotten."

"Of course we haven't forgotten," Amy said, smiling. "The question is, when's the best time to get them?"

"Definitely when they're sleeping," Ty said. "The best practical jokes are when you get your victims while they're sleeping."

"Ok, so we'll sneak around and get them later when they're sleeping," Steph stated, grinning deviously. "Boy, the looks on their faces when we get them..."

"Shane will be _furious_," Amy pointed out.

"And C-Dawg won't be too happy either," Ty added.

"_Relax_, you guys. They all have a good sense of humor," Steph said. "Maybe they'll like getting chocolate squirted on them, or getting whipped cream sprayed on them."

"Yeah right," Amy said.

"Maybe if we spray the whipped cream on them and _lick_ it off?" Ty suggested innocently.

Steph and Amy looked at her. The room was perfectly silent... And then they all started laughing at the same time.

"That's a great idea," Amy said.

"Agreed," Steph laughed. "But I absolutely _refuse_ to lick whipped cream off my own _brother_. That's just really _sick_!"

Just then, there was a knock on Steph's bedroom door. Before they could say anything, the door opened, and Shane, Chris, and C-Dawg stood there with their hands behind their backs.

"Well, well, well," Shane drawled, stepping into the room. The other two followed him. "What do we have here?"

"Is this a meeting of the Powerpuff Girls?" C-Dawg asked. He turned to Chris. "What does this look like to you?"

"Looks like three girls in bed together," Chris answered. He smiled. "Now isn't that _cute_?"

"Um, guys?" Steph asked nervously, getting off the bed. "What are you all hiding behind your backs?"

"I have nothing behind my back that would interest you, Steph," Shane said. He looked at Chris. "But _you_ do, don't you, Chris?"

"Yeah, I have something that would interest her," Chris told Shane. "The question is...should I _give it to her_ now or wait till later?" He looked at C-Dawg. "What do _you_ think?"

"Dawg, you know I'm down for whatever," C-Dawg said. "But I think we should wait... We should make them all squirm a lil bit."

"What are you talking about?" Steph asked, looking at Chris.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Chris teased. "But I'll never tell..." He winked lightly at the look on her face. He had just said the same thing she'd told him earlier.

All three guys started backing away and out into the hallway, hands still behind their backs. They looked very sneaky, to say the least. It was obvious that they were up to something devious...

"Why don't you girls join us downstairs in five minutes for a _classic_ game of Spin the Bottle?" Shane asked them. He looked around at the guys, giving them a knowing look, then looked back over at the girls. "And after that, we can do a round of Truth or Dare."

"Followed by an old-fashioned game of Hide and Seek," Chris added. He looked at Steph, who seemed to have been silently appointed as the spokesperson for her group. "What do you say?"

"Spin the Bottle?" Steph asked. "Truth or Dare? Hide and Seek? Aren't those...kid games?"

"Not _our_ version of them," C-Dawg said. "But you girls will find that out soon enough."

"We'll see you girls in five minutes downstairs...or _else_," Shane said, and he shut the door.

Steph, Ty, and Amy looked at each other. "They're up to something," Steph said. "I can feel it."

"Do you think they found out about our plan somehow?" Ty asked.

"I don't know, but it seems like they have a plan of their own now," Amy said.

"And what's up with the games they chose?" Steph asked. "I mean, I guess I could see doing Spin the Bottle and Truth or Dare, but _Hide and Seek_?"

"That could be very interesting, though," Amy mused. "Especially if we were on teams or something..."

"This is so exciting!" Ty exclaimed. "Let's go down there!"

"Yeah, let's do it," Amy agreed enthusiastically.

Steph nodded as the girls got off her bed and stood next to her. "Let's go," she said, and they headed for the door with excited and determined looks on their faces...

**A/N: Yay! A _fun_ chapter...no Trish, LOL! And Chris and Steph FINALLY kissed... I have a feeling that the next chapter will be really fun for me to write! Oh, I have many, _many_ plans...**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Steph, Amy, and Ty stepped cautiously into the den downstairs and found Shane, Chris, and C-Dawg sitting on the floor talking animatedly about something. As soon as the three guys spotted them, however, their conversation ended abruptly.

"I wonder what they were talking about," Ty said.

"Obviously us, or they would still be talking now," Amy pointed out.

Steph nodded. "I still think they're up to something."

"You girls scared to come over here?" Shane called over to the girls. Chris and C-Dawg snickered softly, elbowing each other, nodding in agreement with Shane's question.

"What is there to be scared of?" Steph asked bravely. She looked at each of the three guys before continuing. "Nothing, nothing at all."

"Is that what you think?" Chris asked her, looking amused.

"It's what I _know_," Steph answered. "Come on, girls."

The three girls made their way over to where the boys were sitting and sat down near them, forming a circle. Steph looked directly across from her into those blue eyes that captivated her every time she looked into them... Chris looked back at her, straight into her eyes, and smiled at her. She let her eyes roam over his muscular body, and he returned her sentiments...

"Chris... Earth to Chris," Shane said, elbowing Chris in his ribs. "Stop checking my sister out and hand me the damn bottle!"

Chris looked away from Steph and blushed. "What makes you think I was checking Steph out?" he asked, handing Shane a bottle.

"Dude, it's obvious," C-Dawg spoke up. "Trish needs to keep an eye on you, Chris..."

"I don't wanna talk about Trish tonight. This weekend, as a matter of fact... I want a Trish-free weekend," Chris said. He looked at Ty. "No offense to you, Tyra."

"None taken," Ty said, smiling at him. "I don't really wanna talk about Trish this weekend, either."

"What kind of boyfriend are you, Chris?" Shane teased. "Not even wanting to talk about your awesome, _wonderful_ girlfriend... Shame on you."

"Yeah, poor Trish," C-Dawg said sarcastically. "She'd be just _heartbroken_ if she knew how you _really_ felt."

"Could you both just shut the hell up?" Chris asked finally, looking down at his hands.

"Why? Because you're feeling sad?" Shane joked.

"Because I said I didn't wanna talk about Trish and we're talking about her anyway!" Chris exclaimed. "Can't there be one weekend when I can be Trish-free?" He stood up and stalked out of the room.

"Dude, we were just joking with you!" Shane called after him.

"Dawg, you know there's no use in trying to talk to him once he gets into one of his pissed off moods," C-Dawg said. "He's so damn sensitive lately."

"Well? Aren't one of you guys gonna go after him?" Steph asked Shane and C-Dawg a minute later.

"Nah. He'll come back once he's calmed down," C-Dawg said with a shrug.

"Yeah, this isn't the first time it's happened," Shane said. "Apparently, the whore...I meant, Trish...is a touchy subject these days."

"Well I guess I'm not like you guys. I can't just sit here," Steph said, standing up. "I'm gonna go after him."

"That's right, Steph! Go after your man!" Shane teased. He looked at Ty, Amy, and C-Dawg. "Meanwhile, _we'll_ be playing Spin the Bottle."

"Whatever," Steph said shortly. She walked out of the den and looked around, wondering where Chris had stormed off to. Why had he gotten so mad about talking about Trish? She was his girlfriend, and they were a happy couple, _weren't_ they? And what was he _really_ saying when he said he wanted a "Trish-free" weekend? Was he implying that he didn't even want to be reminded of the fact that Trish was his girlfriend?

Steph shook her head. "I'm jumping to conclusions," she whispered to herself. _Now where would I go if I was Chris?_ she thought. There were a number of places a person could go at in the McMahon mansion if he or she wanted to be alone, which would make it the perfect place for Hide and Seek. But right now, the one and only place she could picture Chris being was the club house, as weird as it seemed.

She went out the back door of the mansion and headed for the club house. The club house was pretty big, and it was a whole separate building from the mansion. She made her way along the path to the smaller building. When she reached her destination, she leaned down and felt underneath the rug for the key. She grabbed the key and unlocked the door. Afterwards, she put the key back under the rug, then stepped inside the club house and into complete and total darkness.

She reached for the light switch and flipped the lights on. And, just as she had suspected, Chris was there. He was sitting on the floor leaning against the wall, looking at nothing at all. His look was focused, yet blank, and she wondered if he was ok.

"Chris?" she said softly, taking a cautious step in his direction.

He looked up at her and almost immediately a smile tugged at the corner of his lips. "Steph," he said quietly. "You followed me."

"Of course I did," she replied, walking over to him. She sat down next to him. "Tell me what's wrong so I can help you fix it."

"I'm not sure you can," he replied, looking away again.

"Ok, well answer this for me, then," she said, looking at him. "What did you mean when you said that you wanted a Trish-free weekend?"

"Oh, that one's easy. I just want one weekend," he said simply.

"For what?" she asked.

"One weekend where Trish doesn't have to be the one I _have_ to focus on," he answered. "I mean, I know she's my girlfriend, and I know it's not right to feel this way about her, but sometimes I just can't help it."

"Now we're getting somewhere," she said, happy that she was really getting him to open up to her. "The next step is to figure out why you're feeling this way, why you want to be all Trish-free all of a sudden."

"It didn't happen all of a sudden," he told her, looking at her again. "It's been like this for a while...and what are you, my therapist?"

"I'd prefer to be your friend, but if you _want_ me to be your therapist..." Her voice trailed off and she looked away, wondering if he really thought of her as his therapist. His therapist? That wasn't the relationship she wanted with him at all, unless patients kissed their therapists the way he had kissed her earlier in the kitchen. If that was the case, she would be more than happy to fulfill the role of his therapist...

"I was kidding," he said quietly, touching her arm lightly. "Steph..."

"What?" she asked, looking at him.

"I want this weekend to be a time where you and I can hang out together without having to worry about what Trish will say," he said. "I mean, recently we haven't really had the opportunity to be together _alone_, and before you were too young..."

"Too young for what?" she asked curiously.

"You know..." His voice trailed off and he paused, trying to find the words he wanted to say to her. He came up with nothing, so he tried to word his next sentence the best way that he could. "Like, you were always too young to be the type of friend that I wanted...want...you to be."

"And now I'm not?" she asked.

"Now you're not," he agreed. "You're nearly 15 now..."

"I know." She looked at him, then looked away. "So... Are you feeling more calm now?"

"Calm?" he repeated, confused.

"Yeah," she replied. "C-Dawg told me that you just needed time to calm down or whatever because Trish is a touchy subject these days."

He stood up and looked down at her with a smirk on his face. "Trish who?"

"Trish, as in your _girlfriend_ Trish," she said, looking bewildered.

"Steph, Steph, Steph," he said, pulling her to her feet. She gasped when he pulled her against him and held her there. "Trish doesn't exist for us this weekend."

"Um, ok," she said quickly, wondering if he had lost his mind. That was the only reason, the only logical explanation for all this nonsense and foolishness that was coming out of his mouth. How could Trish not exist for them this weekend? It wasn't possible!

He let her go and smiled at her. "I'm in a much better mood, thanks to you. How about we get back to the others before they start thinking stuff?"

"Stuff like what?" she asked, turning and starting to head for the door.

"They might think we're kissing or something," he called after her.

She stopped walking and slowly turned to face him again. "About that kiss earlier... Why'd you do it?"

"I could tell you that I kissed you to try to get information out of you about what you planned to do with the whipped cream," he said, stepping up to her. "But that would be a lie."

"Then what's the truth?" she asked. "Why did you kiss me?"

"Because I wanted to," he said, smiling at her. "Is it a crime to suddenly want to kiss a beautiful girl?"

"No," she replied in a low voice, blushing. "It just kind of surprised me that you did...kiss me."

"Know what?" he said, leaning down until their lips were inches apart.

"What?" she asked breathlessly. His lips were so close... Just like earlier... Was he going to kiss her again?

"If you think you were surprised then, wait and see what other surprises the night holds in store for you," he said mysteriously. He stood back up straight and headed for the door so they could leave. "Oh, and one more thing... Just sort of slipped my mind..."

"What?" she asked, following him.

They were outside of the club house by the time he finally answered her.

"I surprised myself earlier in the kitchen, too," he told her. "And there's something else I want to say..."

"Feel free to speak your mind," she said, glancing at him as they headed back towards the mansion.

"Race you back to the house!" he exclaimed. He tugged her hair lightly, then laughed and took off running.

She was surprised for a minute. Him pulling her hair reminded her of the old days when he had first started coming around the house with Shane, back when she was around five years old. She could remember him pulling her hair and running away, laughing in the same way he was laughing now... And she would always chase him, promising to get him back, because even then she hadn't been one to stand for any kind of crap...

"Come back here!" she yelled, then ran after him...

**A/N: I know this skipped around a lot. This didn't exactly go the way that I planned for it to go. This chapter had a mind of its own and it wrote itself, LOL! And it's sort of short compared to other recent chapters. I guess I can pick up where this chapter was supposed to pick up in Chapter 9... But really, who can resist a Trish-free weekend?**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

"Told you I'd catch you," Steph said, leaning against the counter in the kitchen as she caught her breath. She had just chased Chris around the backyard after he had pulled her hair, and now she was out of breath. Their backyard was huge, and Chris had made it his top priority to run almost everywhere so she wouldn't catch him, even though he had only told her that he would race her back to the house.

"And you did," Chris said, leaning against the counter next to her. He put one hand on her shoulder. "I must say, you've impressed me, Steph."

"Really?" she asked, looking at him. "How so?"

"You just have," he said simply. He removed his hand from her shoulder and reached into his pocket, then pulled his hair back into a ponytail. "So, are you ready to get back to the others?"

"Yeah, let's do it," she said, standing up straight. "I just hope we haven't missed Spin The Bottle..."

"Why? Were you looking forward to kissing someone?" he asked curiously as they walked slowly out of the kitchen together.

"Yeah," she said, grinning at him. "And I think you know who I'm talking about."

"No, I don't know," he said, a smile tugging at his lips. He stopped walking and pulled her to him, putting his arms around her. "Why don't you tell me who the lucky guy is?"

She smiled shyly at him. It was funny how she'd known him for so long, and yet, she was still so very shy around him. "I'll give you one guess, and I'll even give you a hint," she said in a low voice. "I've been knowing him since, well, _forever_, and...we kissed earlier."

"Sounds kind of like me," he said with a laugh. "But you know, we don't have to play Spin The Bottle if you want me to kiss you... That is, _if_ you tell me what you made Shane get all that stuff for."

"Like I told you earlier," she said, pushing him away lightly. "I'll never tell." She laughed at him, then headed for the den where the others were.

"Fine. I see you like it the hard way," he said, following her to the den. "But I'll figure it out, because I'm one smart cookie."

"Yeah, you're smart," she agreed as they reached the den. She turned around to look at him. "But if you don't figure it out tonight...you'll _definitely_ know by in the morning."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, eyebrows raised.

She smirked at him before going into the den. "You'll figure it out."

"Well, look who finally decided to join us," Shane said, standing up. "Chris and Steph..."

"You totally missed the game," Ty said, getting to her feet. She and Amy dragged Steph away from the guys, and Steph noticed how big they were both smiling.

"Ok, so who kissed who?" Steph asked when they were on the other side of the room.

"I kissed your brother," Amy said, grinning from ear to ear. "And I have to say, he's a great kisser!"

"They kissed _way_ past the time we set for them," Ty said, wiggling her eyebrows at him. "I'm so jealous!"

"What are you jealous for? You kissed C-Dawg," Amy said, turning to look at Ty. "So what's so bad about that?"

"Nothing's bad about it," Ty replied with a little laugh. "It was...fun."

"I can't believe I missed it all," Steph said with a sigh.

"You didn't miss much. I'm sure you and Chris were busy making out wherever he ran off to earlier," Amy said. Steph looked over at Chris and smiled, and Amy raised her eyebrow. "Oh, so something _did_ happen? Do tell!"

"Nothing happened. We just talked, and he said he wanted a Trish-free weekend," Steph said, looking back at the girls. "And he said something about me now being old enough to be the type of friend he's always wanted me to be, whatever that's supposed to mean."

"Wow, it sounds like my sister's gonna be getting kicked to the curb sometime soon," Ty said, laughing. "That would be a first, because she's usually the one to do the kicking...dumping...whatever."

"No one said anything about dumping anyone," Steph said, looking down at her shoes and remembering everything Chris had said when they'd been alone. She didn't want to get her hopes up, but he'd been talking like he wanted to be more than friends with her... And then he had said they didn't have to play Spin The Bottle if she wanted him to kiss her... She _did_ want him to kiss her, but she wasn't sure if he wanted to kiss her because he really wanted to or because he wanted information about the stuff Shane had brought back for her...

"Steph," Ty said, elbowing her in the ribs. "The guys are coming over here and you're, like, totally spaced out!"

"Yeah, are you daydreaming about Chris or something?" Amy asked, smirking lightly at her.

"Shut up," Steph said, turning around. Together, the three girls stood next to each other and looked at the three guys approaching them, arms folded across their chests.

The guys came to a stop in front of them and stood, looking extremely cool. "Hello ladies...and Steph," Shane said, looking at them.

"Hey, if they're ladies, Steph's one, too," Chris interrupted, coming to her defense right away.

"Whatever," Shane said, waving him off. He looked back at the girls. "We're going to play Truth or Dare now, so who's in?"

"We're all in," Amy said, speaking for the three girls. "As long as we pick who gets to go first."

"Deal," Shane said. He looked at his two friends, and all three of them shared a knowing look. "Come on, let's get started."

About three minutes later, they were back in their little circle on the floor, and once again, Stephanie was sitting right across from Chris. She closed her eyes for a minute, just thinking about what had happened in the kitchen earlier. It was just a kiss, but it had felt like so much more... _Too bad we missed Spin The Bottle_, she thought. _But I'll never regret going after him when he left_...

"Chris, you're first," Amy said. She shared a knowing look with Ty, and then she looked back at him with a smile on her face. "Truth or dare?"

Chris thought about it for a second. He knew that if he chose truth, they were going to pester him with questions about Trish, but if he chose dare... _I can handle any physical dare they throw at me_, he thought. "Dare," he said confidently.

"This one's for you, Steph," Ty leaned over and whispered in Steph's ear.

"What are you talking about?" Steph asked, looking at her friend and feeling confused.

"You'll see," Ty said shortly.

"Dare, huh? We dare you to...strip down to your boxers," Amy said. "But that's not all. After that, we want you to run around the entire room singing 'The Itsy Bitsy Spider' as loud as you can."

"Are you serious?" Shane asked, eyes wide in surprise.

"Totally," Amy replied.

"Yo, I don't think that's appropriate, dawg," C-Dawg said, shaking his head. "I mean, it would be hella funny though..."

"He doesn't _have_ to do it," Ty pointed out. "He could just change his mind and choose truth... But really, Chris, how do you think that'll make you look in front of Steph here?"

Chris looked at Steph, then stood up and pulled his shirt over his head. "I'm totally up for the challenge," he said bravely, tossing his shirt over to Steph. Steph caught the shirt, and Chris grinned at her. "Mind holding my pants, too?"

"Sure," Steph said, smiling and clutching his shirt against her chest. It smelled like him, and she liked the scent...

Chris walked over to Steph and handed her his jeans, and then he looked down at Amy. "Where do you want me to start?"

"Here is fine," Amy said. She looked up at him. "Ready?"

"No, the question is, are all of you ready?" Chris joked. By then, he was only wearing his boxers, which were black, and some socks. _I can't believe I'm doing this. I might as well take this to the highest level..._ He started jogging around the room. "The itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout..."

"Oh my God, he looks so gay!" Shane exclaimed as Chris pranced around the room, doing pirouettes like a ballerina while singing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider". They all watched him as he ran around the room, and then he came back and stood next to Steph.

"Steph... My pants," Chris said, holding his hand out. She handed him his jeans and held his shirt up as well, but he shook his head. "No, I don't need the shirt right now. You keep it for me." He smiled at the look on her face, then went over to his previous spot. He put his jeans back on, then sat down. "So, it's my turn to pick who goes next, right?"

"Yeah, man," Shane said. "And I think you need to get them back for what they did to you."

Chris looked directly across from him, and his eyes landed on Steph, who was currently hugging his shirt to her chest. _She looks so adorable_, he thought, smirking. "Steph," he said, startling her out of the little daze that she was in. She looked up at him, and he smiled. "Truth or dare?"

Steph bit her lip nervously. _If I choose truth, he's going to ask me what I'm going to use that stuff Shane brought back for, but if I choose dare he might make me do something really stupid_, she thought. "Truth," she said finally.

"Just as I expected," Chris said. "So, Steph, I have a question for you. Do you have a crush on someone in this room?"

Steph looked at him for a second, wondering if she should really answer that question. Of course she had a crush on someone in the room; she had a crush on _him_! But the question was, was she ready to admit that in front of her brother and C-Dawg?

"Come on, Steph, it's not that hard of a question," Shane said, looking over at Chris. "Just tell this dork that you don't have a crush on anyone here and we can move on."

"Actually, Shane, I _do_ have a crush on someone in this room," Steph admitted, looking shyly over at Chris. "And I think he knows who he is..."

"Well, Steph, I never knew you felt this way about me, mami," C-Dawg said playfully, scooting over next to her and putting his arm around her shoulders. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Not you, John, _me_," Chris said, sending C-Dawg a dark look. "She likes _me_."

"Is that true, Steph?" Shane asked.

"Well it must be, since I chose truth instead of dare," Steph said, grinning at the look on her brother's face. Her grin faded, though, as his look changed into an expression that she couldn't quite read. "Shane, don't be mad because I like him..."

"Mad? I'm not mad that you like him," Shane said. "I'm mad because you didn't tell me first!" He folded his arms across his chest and pretended to glower at her.

"See, he's so sweet!" Amy whispered in Steph's ear. "I knew there was some reason I liked him..."

"Since it's my turn now, Shane, truth or dare?" Steph asked, looking at her brother.

"I'm not a wimp. I choose dare," Shane said. "So what do you want me to do?"

"Ok, then, I dare you to tell the truth," Steph said, smirking at her brother. "Do you have a crush on Amy?"

Shane's mouth dropped. "Steph! That's not fair! I chose _dare_, not truth!"

"Scared to admit it?" C-Dawg asked, looking at Shane.

"I don't want to play this game anymore," Shane said, abruptly standing up. He looked over at the clock on the wall. "I think we need to have something to eat. I'm starving!" He walked over and picked up the cordless phone. "I'll be back. I'm gonna go order some pizza."

"I'll be right back," Chris said, standing up. He followed Shane out of the room and into the kitchen. He waited for Shane to finish ordering the pizza before speaking. "Dude, why didn't you just answer the question? We all know that you do," he pointed out.

"Yeah, but what if she doesn't like me that way?" Shane asked. "I mean, sure, I'm a pretty popular guy at school, but that's only because I'm rich. Popularity means nothing, really."

"I wish Trish would get that through her head," Chris said with a sigh, leaning against the counter. "She thinks popularity is more important than anything... Sometimes, I don't even know why I'm with her."

"Me neither, man. I've been telling you to break up with her since you first started going out with her," Shane said. "And when was that, centuries ago?"

"Feels like it, but it'll be a year and a half in October," Chris replied, looking away. "That's a long time, huh?"

"Way too long to put up with all her shit," Shane answered, looking away as well. "Did you know that Steph had a crush on you before you asked her?"

"Yeah, I knew," Chris said. "I think I've known it for a really long time, but I just wanted to hear her say it..."

"Do you like her, too?" Shane asked curiously.

"Of course I do, dude," Chris said in a low voice. "But you've known that for a long time, haven't you?"

"Yeah," Shane said. He sighed again. "We totally have girl problems."

"How true..." Chris stood up straight again. "So, we better get back in there before they start thinking stuff."

"Thinking stuff like what?" Shane asked, leading the way out of the kitchen.

"I don't know," Chris said, shrugging, following him. "I just want to go back in there..."

**A/N: This chapter's kind of random, I know. The problem is, I'm anxious to get to October/Halloween. I wrote a chapter for that a while ago and it's so controversial! I can't wait to put it in! But first...I have to get there, lol...**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"Tell everyone that I'll be back in there when the pizza arrives," Shane told Chris as they stood outside of the den. He ran his fingers nervously through his black hair and peeked into the room, looking over at Amy.

"Dude, why don't you just go in there?" Chris asked, looking into the room. His eyes landed on Steph, and he smiled. She really had grown up a lot. He could remember when he had first met her, back when he was eight and she was five. He hadn't been like other boys, saying that girls had cooties. Maybe he had grown out of it early or something. He'd always liked Steph. She'd been one of the main reasons he used to love coming over to visit Shane...

"You do that a lot," Shane said, shaking Chris lightly.

"Do what?" Chris asked, still distracted as he looked over at Steph.

"You, like, zone out a lot," Shane said. He followed his friend's gaze over at his sister and his eyebrows rose a bit. "Just how much do you like my sister?"

"More than you know. More than even _she_ knows," Chris answered truthfully. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going in there."

"You go ahead, Mr. Courageous," Shane joked, but he was only half-teasing. "I'll be waiting on the stairs for the pizza delivery guy to get here."

Chris entered the den and looked over at the couch where Steph was now sitting. When he'd left, she had been sitting on the floor with everyone else. Now, however, Amy and Ty were sitting on the floor listening to C-Dawg freestyle, and Steph was sitting on the couch, clutching the shirt Chris had been wearing and looking off into space. He walked over to Steph and sat down next to her. "Truth or Dare was a bust, huh?" he asked softly in her ear.

Steph looked at him. "Well, not entirely. We learned some interesting stuff, and it got you out of your clothes," she pointed out. "You in your boxers... A sight I'll never forget..."

_You'll see a lot more of that, someday when we're together_, he thought, smiling to himself. "I'm sure you won't forget it," he agreed. He looked over at C-Dawg and the two other girls. "Does Amy like Shane?"

"She's had a crush on him for about as long as _I've_ had a crush on _you_," she said, also looking at the three still sitting on the floor. "She's been liking him for years now."

"Shane likes her, too," he said. "He just thinks that she won't like him the same way he likes her. It's crazy."

"Everything's crazy. _Life_ is crazy," she said. She held out his shirt. "You want this now?"

"Oh, so you want me to cover up these hard-defined muscles of mine?" he joked. He reached for the shirt. "Well, if you insist..."

"No, keep it off," she said, pulling the shirt out of his reach. "I'm just letting you know now, you might never get this shirt back from me."

"That's ok," he said, putting one arm around her shoulder. "Consider it...an early birthday present."

"My birthday is coming up soon... You remember what day it is?" she asked, leaning against him. His body was so warm and muscular... She felt like she had died and gone to heaven. She had never really been this close to him... Ok, so maybe she had, but then he hadn't known that she'd had a crush on him...

"Of course I remember when your birthday is," he said. "I'm appalled that you think I could forget my favorite girl's birthday... It's September 24."

"You remembered!" she exclaimed, surprised.

"Well, how could I ever forget?" he asked, pulling her a little closer. "It's next month... When's mine?"

"November 9," she said right away. "You know, I never noticed how close our birthdays are."

"Close? I don't know about close... What do you want for your birthday?" he asked curiously. "Believe it or not, I already have something in mind, but I want your opinion."

_You_, she thought, and she almost said it. "You don't have to get me anything... You just have to come to my party."

"Party, huh?" he asked. "You mean a private party with just me and you, or will there be other people as well?"

"I haven't decided yet," she said. "But the idea of you and me alone is very appealing..."

Just then, Shane poked his head into the den. The smell of pizza wafted into the room ahead of him. "I have pizza...so if anyone wants some, I'm taking it in the kitchen."

Amy, Ty, and C-Dawg got up and left the room, heading for the kitchen, leaving Chris and Steph alone. He looked at her and smiled. "So...we're alone..."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, turning to look into his eyes.

"What do you want it to mean?" he asked, answering her question with a question. When she didn't answer, he smiled at her and touched her cheek lightly. "You're really pretty... Have I told you that today?"

"I'm not sure," she answered, touching his chest lightly. She could feel his heart racing in his chest, and she smiled to herself. _She_ was responsible, she was the one making his heart race. She looked back into his eyes again. "Aren't you hungry?" she asked softly.

_Hungry for your lips_, he thought, looking at her lips. He sighed, though, and stood up. "Yeah, I guess."

Steph stood up as well, and they walked together into the kitchen so they could get some pizza. "Dang, you guys are already done with a whole box of pizza?" she asked incredulously as they entered the kitchen and saw one box already empty.

"Hey, it's not our fault you two were busy making out or whatever to come in here," Amy teased, right before she bit into another slice.

"Yeah, really," Shane added, and he smiled when Amy looked at him and winked.

"We weren't making out," Steph protested, walking over to grab a paper plate. "Not that I wouldn't want to," she added in a voice only loud enough for Shane to hear.

"Ew! Was that really necessary?" Shane asked in a tone of mock disgust. "I mean, you weren't supposed to, like, agree with it!"

"What are you talking about, Shane-O?" Chris asked, coming over to get some pizza. "What did she say?"

"Oh, nothing," Steph said, grabbing some pizza. "Absolutely nothing." She smiled at the bewildered look on Chris's face, then walked over and joined Amy and Ty at the table. "So what's up, guys?"

"The guys decided that we shouldn't play Hide and Seek after all," Ty said as Steph sat down next to her. "Shane was saying something about not feeling in the mood to play games anymore."

"How can they back out? They're the ones who suggested the stupid games in the first place," Steph pointed out.

"I know, right?" Amy agreed. "But C-Dawg suggested a nice alternative to the games."

"And what would that be?" Steph asked curiously.

"C-Dawg thinks we should watch a scary movie instead, in the theater," Ty said. "I never knew you guys had a _theater_ in your _house_."

"We've always had it... Now what scary movie are you talking about?" Steph wanted to know.

"_House of Wax_? Are you serious?" Chris asked loudly a few feet away from them. "You guys decide to watch a scary movie, and you choose _House of Wax_?"

Steph looked at Amy with wide eyes. "_That's_ what we're watching?" Amy nodded, and Steph looked down at her pizza, suddenly no longer hungry. "That movie really freaks me out, guys."

"But it's totally fake," Ty said. "Besides, Chad Michael Murray is in it, so you have to love it no matter what."

"Yeah, and the way Paris Hilton's character gets that-" Amy started, but Steph cut her off.

"Oh, I so don't like that part," Steph said, holding her hand up. "The way that pole thing goes through her head... I think I just lost my appetite."

Shane walked over to where the three girls were sitting. "So Steph, how do you like our movie choice?"

"I think it sucks, Shane," Steph said honestly. "You know how that movie freaks me out. You do remember the first night I saw it, don't you?"

"Yeah. You made me camp out in your room because you were so scared," Shane remembered. "But it'll be different tonight. You have your friends here with you."

"And you have me," Chris piped up, walking over to join the conversation. "You can totally hold on to my hand when you get scared...or if you just want to hold it."

"Ok, Chris, you're getting a little weird," Shane said, shaking his head. "You're supposed to be making fun of her, not flirting with her... Where's your head tonight?"

"You don't want to know," Chris replied, winking at Steph. "Let's finish this pizza so we can go watch the movie..."

_**Twenty Minutes Later**_

"I'm sitting next to Steph," Chris said as they all headed down the hall to the movie theater. He looked at Steph, who was walking next to him. "You want to sit in the front of the theater or the back?"

"Let's sit in the back," Steph suggested. "I don't want to be up close and personal with the screen..."

"I feel that," Chris said, nodding. He understood where she was coming from. _House of Wax_ wasn't exactly his favorite movie, either. He didn't hate it or anything, but it wasn't on the list of movies he liked to watch more than once.

"I hope that's _all _you'll be feeling in here," Shane said pointedly, opening the door to the theater. "I don't want you feeling on Steph..."

Chris blushed a little. "Shut up, dude," he said quickly. He grabbed Steph's hand. "Come on, let's go find our seats."

The movie theater had four rows. The first three rows each had four seats, but the fourth row in the back only had two seats. Those two seats were each made to hold two people... Steph led Chris up a few steps to the fourth row, then sat in one of those seats and gestured for him to sit next to her. He looked at the seat, then sat down next to her, putting a little space between them. He didn't want to make her uncomfortable by sitting too close...

The others found seats as well. Ironically, all four of them ended up sitting in the second row. The arrangement went like this: C-Dawg sat on one end, followed by Ty. Amy sat next to Ty, and Shane claimed the seat next to Amy on the other end...

"Anybody want popcorn or anything?" Steph asked, standing up. No one wanted any since they'd just eaten pizza, so she sat back down, this time closing the space Chris had put between them. He looked surprised, and she just smiled at him.

"Ok, I'm going to go start the movie and turn the lights off," Shane said. He walked over to the control center and started the movie and turned the lights off, then came back over and sat next to Amy.

"This movie really freaks me out," Stephanie said to Chris in a low voice. "I hope I don't annoy you when I'm squeezing the life out of your hand."

"Like that would annoy me," Chris said with a laugh. "What do you think I'm here for?"

"Shhh!" C-Dawg exclaimed from two rows below. "The movie's starting!"

The beginning of the movie wasn't that scary, and Steph didn't start freaking out until the people on the movie were camping out the night before the big game they had planned to see. Chris glanced next to him and saw her covering her eyes, so he put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her a little closer. "It's not that bad, Steph," he whispered into her ear. "Nothing bad is going to happen yet."

"I know," she whispered back. "But I know what's going to happen later, and it just freaks me out..."

"It'll be ok," he said in a low voice. He kissed her softy on the cheek, and waited for her to look at him before he spoke again. "Because I'm right here."

She smiled at him, then turned back to the movie and leaned against him. _Maybe this won't be so bad after all_, she thought...

**A/N: I SO just want to get this weekend over but I haven't figured out how! It's only August, too, and Halloween isn't until October... Bear with me, though, because the Halloween chapter I mentioned before is crazy!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"This is the part where he chops her finger off," Steph whispered, one hand on Chris's thigh. "And blood starts pouring out and it's awful because her lips are glued together and she can't scream."

"Steph, honey, it's ok," Chris assured her quietly. "It's fake."

"I know," she said, looking at the screen with wide eyes. "But it's so gross and..." She buried her face against his chest when the insane guy chopped the girl's finger off, momentarily forgetting that Chris wasn't wearing a shirt.

"It's fake," he said again. "It's totally fake. Think of it as...some kind of weird ketchup."

"Ketchup is thicker than that," she murmured against his chest, her lips moving against his skin. She closed her eyes and leaned against him, thoughts traveling from the horrible movie they were watching to the fact that she was practically kissing his chest...

"Yeah, that's true," he agreed, bringing one hand up to touch her face. He tilted her chin up until she looked into his eyes. "Are you really that scared of this movie?"

"It really freaks me out," she whispered, looking up into his eyes in the darkness of the theater. His eyes looked electric, so alive... "I bet you think I'm a wimp now, huh?"

"Sure, you're a wimp," he joked, lightly stroking her face. "But that just makes me love..._like _seeing this movie with you even more."

"Why?" she asked curiously.

"Because I have a legitimate reason to hold you in my arms," he said, leaning a little closer to her. He touched her hair and smiled. "I have a reason to be sitting this close to you..."

She reached up to touch his face. She didn't know what she was doing, but she knew that she wanted to kiss him again... She just hoped he wouldn't push her away if she tried. She didn't think he would, though she couldn't be sure why. Maybe it was because of all the hints he'd been dropping all night about needing space away from Trish, or maybe it was because of the fact that he had kissed her earlier in the kitchen... Either way, she found herself touching his face lightly with her fingertips before leaning up to give him a soft kiss.

To say that he was surprised would have been an understatement, but he went along with it. He knew it was wrong. Hell, he'd known in the kitchen earlier that he was wrong for kissing her since he was currently in a relationship with Trish. But he'd been waiting for a long time for Steph to get up on his level and realize that he had been enamored with her for so many years...and now that she sort of knew, he wasn't going to pass his chance up.

She felt his arms around her, pulling her closer. She could feel one of his strong hands tangling in her loose hair, pushing her head forward to deepen the kiss. She was surprised at his strong response, at his enthusiasm, but she wouldn't have changed it for the world...

They finally broke apart a few minutes later, and they just sat looking into each other's eyes. The kiss had been unexpected...but perfect.

"Chris?" she asked in a whisper. "Do you...like me?"

"Of course I do," he answered. "I wouldn't have kissed you back if I didn't. I don't make it a habit to kiss people that I don't care about."

"Then how do you explain kissing Trish?" C-Dawg cracked from two rows below.

"Touché," Chris said with a laugh. "Seriously, though, I care about Trish...but she's not the same girl who asked me out over a year ago."

"Trish asked _you_ out?" Steph asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah. I wasn't really looking for a girlfriend because I had my eye on someone," Chris explained. "But then she asked me out...and we've been seeing each other since then."

"Hello! Trish-free weekend, remember?" Ty asked, standing up. "I live with her and I have to see her all the time. It's really nice to go a night without her, so...stop talking about her already."

"I feel the same way," Chris said in a low voice, low enough where only Steph could hear him. He pulled her to him again and she leaned her head against his bare chest once more. He leaned his chin on the top of her head and sighed, then looked at the screen, where the credits were rolling. "When did the movie go off?" he asked.

"About five minutes ago," Shane said, standing up and heading for the control center. "But I suppose you and Steph were a bit too engrossed in each other to notice that, huh?"

"Guess so," Chris said, blushing. He shivered lightly and realized that he had chill bumps going up his arm. "Man, when did it get so cold in here?"

"It's still the same temperature that it's been since we first came in here," Amy informed him as the lights flickered on. She stood up, looking at her watch. "Wow, it's pretty late now. It's about five minutes till midnight!"

"No wonder I feel so tired all of a sudden," Shane said, leaning against the wall and stifling a yawn. "I think it's about time for me to hit the sack."

"Already?" Steph asked incredulously. "But the night is young!"

"The night may be young, but _I_ am tired," Shane said. "I'm about to go take a shower and go to bed."

"Not a bad idea," C-Dawg agreed, standing up and stretching. "The sooner I go to sleep, the quicker tomorrow will be here, and then you all know what's going to happen..."

"What's going to happen?" Ty asked curiously.

"My parents are going to give me back the keys to all of my cars," C-Dawg said excitedly. He began to head for the exit. "It's been a whole week since I've driven my Mustang... One more day without my baby and I'll be sleeping with the fish..."

"Why do your parents have your keys?" Ty wanted to know.

"They took them, and trust me, it's a long story," C-Dawg told her with a grin. "But if you want to hear it, come with me and I'll tell you all about it..."

"I'd like that," Ty said, following him out of the theater after waving at the others.

"Hey, Steph? Shane had a good idea. I think I'm going to go take a shower and go to bed," Amy said, looking over at Steph. "But, uh, you don't have to rush to come upstairs, though, and we can totally do our...plan...tomorrow."

"If you say so," Steph said, sitting up straight. "Are you and Ty going to sleep in my bedroom or what? Because there's plenty of room for the three of us in there, you know."

"I'm sure Ames wants to sleep in her usual guest room tonight, right, Ames?" Shane asked. Amy looked at him and nodded, and he smiled. "I'll show you to your room upstairs..." He led Amy out of the theater, leaving Chris and Steph alone.

"Guess it's just you and me, huh?" Steph asked, looking at Chris. "Alone yet again."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Chris replied.

"I don't think it's a bad thing," she said quickly. "Especially since I probably won't get to hang out with you as much next week at school."

"And why not?" he asked, looking crestfallen. "I mean, don't you want to be with me? Don't you want to hang out with me?"

"Of course I do! But I'm just saying, Trish probably doesn't want me to hang out with you," she said in a rushed voice.

"Again with Trish. It's not about what she wants now," he said. "I've known you longer than I've known her... I've waited for you longer..."

"Waited for me?" she repeated, confused.

He wanted to slap himself for slipping up so bad. _I've said too much_, he thought wildly, and he knew he had to change the subject as quickly as possible before she fully realized the depth of his feelings for her. Sure, he was crazy about her, but he didn't want her to know just how much...not yet. "Why'd you kiss me?" he asked, finally figuring out what to say.

"I don't know. I just had this feeling, and I really wanted to kiss you," she said, looking away, suddenly embarrassed by her reactions to him and his body. "I'm sorry if I offended you when I did that."

"You can't possibly think that you offended me by _kissing_ me," he said with a scoff. "And remember, I _did_ kiss you back..." His voice trailed off as he started reliving the kiss in his mind. He'd been kissed many, many different time in his life, but his recent kisses with Steph would probably always stand out in his mind.

Steph stood up. "Well... It's midnight now, and everybody's about to go to sleep, so..."

"That doesn't mean that _we_ have to go to sleep, though," he pointed out, standing up as well and stretching out. "Why don't you and I just...find something to do?"

"Like what?" she asked curiously.

"Do you guys have any spare sleeping bags around here?" he asked suddenly.

"Um..." Her voice trailed off as she looked off into space, trying to remember where the sleeping bags were. "Uh... Shane and I each have one, upstairs in the playroom...but I guess we can't call it the playroom anymore since Daddy remodeled it... It's the entertainment room now..." She was rambling and she knew it, but somehow she just couldn't help it. "Anyway, the sleeping bags... They should be up there."

"Let's go get them," he said, grabbing her hand. "I have the most perfect idea..." They walked out of the theater and headed up the stairs to the entertainment room, grasping each other's hands tightly. They made it to the third floor, which no one was occupying at the moment, and he stopped and looked around. "There are empty guest rooms up here, right?" he asked her.

"Yep," she replied.

"And some of them have balconies, don't they?" he went on.

"Where are you going with this?" she wanted to know.

"You'll find out soon enough," he said with a little smile. "Now come on."

They walked up the small flight of stairs to the attic and stepped into the playroom. Steph led him over to a multipurpose storage cabinet and opened it.

"Ah, here they are... Oh wait, only mine is here," she said. She looked around for a minute, but she didn't see Shane's. "I don't know where Shane's sleeping bag is... He must've moved it." She looked at him. "I'm sorry. I guess I ruined your perfect idea, huh?"

"No, I just have to improvise," he said. He held her sleeping bag up. "Think this would be big enough for the two of us to fit in?" he asked.

"The two of us? As in, me and you?" she asked unbelievingly.

"Well, yeah, Steph," he said with a laugh. "We're the only ones in here."

She looked at the sleeping bag. "Yeah, I think it's big enough," she said after a moment of genuinely observing it. "So what are you going to do with it?"

"You'll find out really soon," he promised, folding the sleeping bag into a bundle and holding it. "What's the best room on the third floor with a balcony?" he asked.

"I'll show you," she said. She led him out of the attic and down the small flight of stairs, then all the way to the end of the hall. "This one's it," she said, standing in front of the closed door. "Why?"

He sat the sleeping bag down by the door. "Don't worry about why. Here's what I need you to do. Go get ready for bed and everything while I take a shower, and then meet me back up here in about thirty minutes or so, ok?"

She looked at him suspiciously. "Should I wear my pajamas?"

"If you want," he joked. "I mean, you can come naked if you want to, although I would strongly advise you against doing that."

"Why?" she wanted to know.

"Steph, Steph, Steph," he said, shaking his head. "I'd lose control then, and I wouldn't be able to hold back...and we're not ready for that."

"I thought you said you were saving yourself for someone," she reminded him.

"I am."

"Then there's no way you'd lose control around me."

"If you only knew..." He shook his head again, then headed for the stairs. "So I'll see you in thirty minutes?" he asked as she fell into step beside him.

"Yeah, thirty minutes," she agreed as they walked down the stairs together to the second floor. They went their separate ways, and she headed into her room, wondering what kind of plan he had and why he wanted her to meet him upstairs in thirty minutes. It would be nearly one in the morning by then! Since she had been running around with him earlier, she decided to take another shower, just so she'd feel totally clean. She had to be perfect for whatever he had in mind...

_**Thirty Minutes Later**_

"Chris?" Steph called in a low whisper as she headed down the hall on the third floor. "You there?" She didn't get a reply, but she kept walking until she reached the room at the end, and then she noticed that the sleeping bag was no longer sitting outside the door. _He must be inside,_ she thought, and she opened the door.

Stepping inside, she closed the door softly behind her and looked around, but she still didn't see him. The doors to the balcony were open, though, so she supposed that was where he was. She walked out onto the balcony and found him sitting on the sleeping bag in some pajama pants and no shirt... He looked amazing, with the moonlight shining down on him. She leaned in the doorway, studying him. The moonlight washed over him, bathing him in a light that seemed to make him glow. He looked like a sculpture, the most beautiful sculpture she'd ever seen. He was flawless...

"Perfect," she whispered to herself. "He's perfect."

"I'm far from perfect," he said quietly, turning to face her from his seated position on the sleeping bag. "Come over here, Steph, and sit next to me."

She walked over to him and sat down next to him. "So what's this all about?" she asked in a soft voice.

"Well, I figured we'd come out here and watch the stars," he said with a little shrug. "I remembered you saying earlier that you and the other girls might sleep under the stars...but they obviously decided not to. And Shane said that us guys would camp out in the den, and that's not happening, either. So I thought..."

"That we could sleep under the stars?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said, smiling a little. "So, what? Does that sound ok, or is it too soon for us to do that or whatever?"

"We're just sleeping. That's not illegal," she pointed out. "And besides, I've known you for nearly ten whole years now."

"So you'll sleep with me then?" he teased. She raised an eyebrow, and he quickly corrected himself. "I mean, you'll share a sleeping bag with me, and we'll sleep out here tonight? Together?"

"Yes, I'd love to," she said softly, looking at him as his eyes sparkled. "Your eyes twinkle like the stars, did you know that?" she asked him.

"So do yours," he said in that same soft voice. "You want to get in first, or should I?"

"Why don't we get in...together?" she suggested.

They got into the sleeping bag together, and he reached over her to zip it up. When he finished zipping it up, he stayed leaning over her, looking down at her.

"Do I have something on my face?" she asked as he stared intently at her.

"No. You're just gorgeous," he replied. He wanted so badly to just close the distance between them and kiss her, but he decided not to. Instead, he got back in his spot in the sleeping bag and looked up at the sky.

"The stars are beautiful tonight, huh?" she asked quietly.

"Not as beautiful as you," he answered.

"Thanks," she said, and then she yawned. "All of a sudden, I'm really sleepy."

"Go to sleep then," he said. "Need me to sing to you? I know this wicked metal version of this lullaby my mom used to sing me when I was little..."

"I'm ok," she said. She fought to keep her eyes open, but they closed anyway. "Goodnight, Chris," she said in a soft voice.

A few moments passed before Chris said anything. He propped himself up on his elbow and looked down at her. She looked so beautiful and peaceful lying there asleep. He tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear, then pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead. He laid back down next to her and closed his eyes. "Sweet dreams, Princess," he whispered, and a few moments later, he was asleep, too.

**A/N: So... I liked writing this chapter! I hope this lived up to everyone's expectations... Be sure to leave a review and let me know how you liked it (or didn't like it). Thanks!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

"Yes, Mom, everything is fine here," Shane said into his cell phone the next morning. "No, we didn't have any wild parties. We played some games, ordered some pizza, watched a movie, then went to bed." He paused for a minute. "No, I don't know why Steph isn't answering her cell phone. I'll go check on her now..."

He walked out of his bedroom and down the hall to Steph's bedroom. He knocked on the door first, out of respect, but then he just barged in. He noticed that her bed was still perfectly made, as though she hadn't slept in there the night before. He walked into her bathroom, but she wasn't there, either.

"Ah, Mom, she's in the shower," he lied. "Want me to tell her to call you when she gets out? No? Oh, ok, then she'll be waiting for your call then. Love you." He pressed the end button, slipped his phone into his pocket, then looked around, scratching his head. "Now where the heck is she?"

He decided that she was probably checking on Amy and Ty. After all, they were her special guests for the weekend. That seemed logical enough, so that was where he decided to go. He walked down the hall to the guest room where Ty had slept the night before and knocked lightly on the door.

"Come in!" Ty called brightly. She was definitely a "morning" person.

Shane opened the door and looked around. "Hey, Ty. Sleep well last night?"

"This bed is so comfortable," she answered. "So how could I not?"

"True," he said with a smile. "So, uh, have you seen Steph this morning?"

"No, can't say that I have," she replied apologetically. "Why? Something wrong?"

"Mom called a few minutes ago and she wanted to speak to Steph, but she's nowhere to be found. I have to find her before Mom calls back," he explained.

"Check Amy's room. Maybe Steph decided to sleep there last night," she suggested.

"Yeah, I'll do that, thanks," he said, already getting lost in his thoughts of Amy as he left the room. He really did need to work up his courage and ask the girl out already, before someone else beat him to it... He didn't understand why he was so incredibly nervous at the thought of asking her out. Usually, he was a pretty bold guy... He walked down the hall, stopping in front of an elegant mirror to check his reflection. He wanted to look perfect for her, no matter what the occasion.

He stopped in front of the door to the guest room Amy always stayed in and tried to calm down. This was getting absolutely ridiculous. He was older than her and he was a guy, and older guys weren't supposed to be so darn nervous when they had the hots for younger girls, right? "That's right," he said confidently to himself, and then he raised his hand to knock on the door...

Just then, Amy opened the door. When she came face to face with Shane's upraised fist, she looked surprised and took a step backwards. "Uh, wow, Shane, what are you doing here?" she asked, running a nervous hand through her hair.

"Uh... I'm... I'm looking for Steph," he stammered, bringing his hand down to his side. "Have you seen her?"

"Not since last night," she said. "It's still pretty early, though. Maybe she's in bed still asleep."

"If she's in bed, she's certainly not in her _own_ bed," he said, biting his lip. "I just checked her room and Ty's room."

She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Did you check with Chris? Maybe she's somewhere with him. After all, they were the last two in the theater last night."

He gasped a little as a sudden thought came to him. "You know, it didn't look like she'd slept in her bed at all. Do you think she..." His voice trailed off, and he shook his head, trying his hardest to get rid of the thoughts and speculations he was beginning to have about one of his best friends and his baby sister. "Hell no, there's just no way they would've..."

"Did you check his room, though?" she wondered.

"No, but I'm about to," he said. His eyes narrowed. "And if Chris has _my_ baby sister in his bed... If he did _anything_ to her, I'm going to be pissed at him, best friend or not."

"Chris isn't like that and you know it," she said, daring to place a hand on his arm. He felt so tense, and he already looked pretty mad as well. That wasn't the way to go about things at all, so she resolved to calm him down. "Look, I'll go with you. Just calm down and come on."

They walked down the hallway together with her hand still resting on his arm. At Chris's room, they stopped walking, and she knocked lightly on the door. She got no reply, though, and she looked at Shane, wondering what he would do.

"I'm going in," he decided, and he opened the door, afraid of what he might see but determined to find out where his sister was before his mother called back. He didn't see anything out of place. The bed was still perfectly made, but the one thing that stood out was the fact that neither Chris nor Steph were present. "So he didn't sleep in his bed either," he commented in a low voice.

"I see," she said, looking off into space as she recalled a conversation they'd all taken part of the day before. "Do you remember yesterday when Stephanie said she wanted to sleep under the stars?" He thought for a minute, then nodded. Satisfied, she went on talking. "And do you remember what Chris did? He teased her about it and told her that she was a romantic at heart."

"You have a really good memory," he said with a smile.

"Thanks," she replied, smiling back.

"So you're saying that you think they slept under the stars together?" he asked after a moment.

"Seems possible, if you look at the circumstances. I mean, it's Chris and Steph, and I think he likes her," she said.

"He does," he confirmed.

"Anyway, aren't there some balconies on the third floor?" she asked.

"Yeah, but there are balconies on this floor, too," he pointed out.

"True, but since the third floor is higher, it makes more sense to assume that they'd be up there."

"And why is that?"

"They'd be just a little closer to the stars," she explained.

"Oh, right," he said, now finally understanding her point. "Well, thanks for the help. I'll go look on the balconies upstairs now." He turned and started to walk away, and she reached out and grabbed his arm. He looked at her. "What's up?"

"Want me to go with you?" she asked shyly.

_Yes!_ his mind screamed excitedly, but he decided to play it cool. "Sure," he said casually. "It's up to you."

"Great, then I'm going," she said, smiling at him. They walked together to the stairs, then headed upstairs. "So how are you enjoying your senior year so far?" she asked, trying to strike up a conversation.

"It's pretty cool," he said with a shrug as they climbed the stairs. "It's really just the same old thing...well, except for the fact that you and Steph are there now, finally."

"So... I'm sure you have the girls chasing after you," she said, looking at him.

"Those girls want me because my family's one of the wealthiest families around. They're all superficial," he said, looking back at her. "Besides, I already like someone...an amazing girl, actually."

"Lucky girl," she said in a voice that could barely be heard.

"What'd you say?" he asked as they reached the top of the stairs.

"Nothing," she said quickly, looking around the third floor. "So, uh, which room do you think they're in?"

"Probably the best room up here, at the end of the hall," he said, pointing. The whole time, though, he was wondering if he'd heard her right. Had she really just referred to the girl he liked as a lucky girl? _Had she?_ And did it mean what he thought it meant? Because if it did, _that_ meant-

"We're here," she said, interrupting his internal dialogue. "Should we knock?"

"No, let's just go in," he said, opening the door. He looked over at the bed, which was, like the others, still perfectly made without a wrinkle in sight. "Good," he said, heaving a sigh of relief and letting out a breath he'd holding. "They're not in the bed."

"Come on, the doors to the balcony are open," she said, grabbing his hand and leading him quietly over to the balcony. She stopped walking at the sight before her. "Oh, look at them! They look so sweet!" she whispered.

"They're sharing a sleeping bag," he observed, not very happy about that fact.

"But look at the way his arms are around her," she went on. "It's so sweet..."

"But they're so close together!" he exclaimed. "Who knows what could happen or what could've already happened?"

"Nothing happened," she said matter-of-factly.

"How do you know/" he asked.

She looked up into his eyes. "There are just some things that you know," she said softly. He looked down at her, and then they both looked at the two in the sleeping bag. "See, Shane? You know they'd be so perfect together."

"But he's my best friend, and he's taken," he protested. "I'm not so worried about Trish, but I _am_ very protective of my baby sis. I don't want her to get hurt..."

"Let's have breakfast," she said, and he raised his eyebrows at her. "We could just let them sleep and go eat."

"You're just saying that so I'll leave them alone," he accused.

"That's part of the reason," she told him. "And the other part is... I would really love to hang out with you sometime...just me and you."

"You're serious?"

"As serious as a car accident."

"Oooh, I don't like the sound of that," he said with a shudder.

"The car accident part, or the fact that I'm serious?" she wondered.

"Only the car accident part." He pulled his camera phone out of his pocket.

"What are you doing?" she asked him.

"What does it look like? I'm going to take a picture of them."

"And the purpose of that is?"

He shrugged. "Seems like something Steph will want to have, a picture to go along with this memory..."

"So you're going to send it to her phone?" she asked, surprised. He nodded, and she smiled at him. "You're really sweet. I knew there was a reason I started liking you..."

"So you like me, then?" he asked her.

"We'll talk about it at breakfast," she promised. "But for now, just take the picture."

He smiled at her, then snapped a few pictures of Chris and Steph sleeping. He had to admit, they did look pretty sweet together. He had never really liked the thought of his little sister having a boyfriend and he still didn't, but if he had to choose for her, he would've definitely chosen Chris. Chris was a good, down-to-earth guy, and he always put everyone else's needs ahead of his own. Shane knew that Chris would treat Steph right, but there was just one problem...

Trish.

"What are you thinking about?" Amy asked as Shane stared at the picture of Steph and Chris on his phone.

"Just thinking of how Trish would react if she knew about this," Shane replied. "She'd be pissed at Chris and even more upset with Steph, and I don't want that."

"Let's not worry about it right now. Let's just go have breakfast," she said. "I'll be able to think better on a full stomach."

"Ok, ok," he agreed. He took one last look at the slumbering two below him, then turned and followed her away from them...

_**Thirty Minutes Later**_

Chris opened his eyes and instantly thought that he was dreaming. He had to be dreaming. How else could he explain the fact that he was literally holding Steph in his arms like this? How else could she be lying practically on top of him with her head resting on his chest? And had they slept that way the entire night?

As he laid there contemplating all of this, he remembered what had happened the night before. All the sweet memories came rushing back to him. He could remember the way she had kissed him in the movie theater, the way he had kissed her back without the least bit of hesitation... And he remembered watching her fall asleep as they both laid beneath the sky, which had seemed like a dark velvet with twinkling stars scattered everywhere..

_Man, that was kind of poetic_, he thought with a smile. _I'll have to use that for one of my songs...or maybe in one of my poems..._ He decided that he wouldn't move at all, because he didn't want to wake her. So instead of moving, he wrapped his arms around her a little tighter and kept them there, just enjoying the way she felt in his arms...

Steph woke a little while later. She opened her eyes slowly and looked around, her eyes darting to and fro without moving her head, wondering why she seemed to be outside instead of in her bedroom. Why wasn't she in her bed?

"Well, look who the angels decided to wake up," Chris said in a soft voice. "My beautiful Steph..."

She lifted her head from his bare chest and looked at him, and all of the memories of what had happened the night before came rushing back to her. She remembered kissing him and holding his hand, and she remembered falling asleep next to him beneath the stars...

"Morning," she said finally. She reached over and unzipped the sleeping bag, then got up. "When did you wake up?"

"Oh, about ten or fifteen minutes ago," he said, sitting up. "But you were sleeping so peacefully on my chest, so I decided not to get up yet."

"Oh," she said, blushing. "You could've just told me to get up or whatever. I didn't mean to-"

"Hey, I liked it, ok? So don't go beating yourself up about it," he interrupted her. "Did you know that you tried to rape me while you were sleeping?"

"Seriously?" she gasped.

"Nah," he laughed. "But it would've been ok. Someday I'm going to just let you have your way with me..."

She smiled and shook her head at him, then headed for the door. "I'm going to go get ready for today. What about you?"

"I'm right behind you," he said with a little laugh as he stood up. "Right behind you..."

_**Nearly Twenty-five minutes Later**_

Steph checked her reflection in the full-length mirror one last time. She thought she looked ok with what she had decided to wear. She was wearing a red shirt and some blue jeans, and for shoes she had decided to go with some flip flops. That was her style. She was just a flip flop and jeans kind of person. She knew some people probably thought that she was weird for wearing flip flops and jeans together, but she didn't care. She thought it looked cool, and besides that, it was comfortable!

She grabbed her cell phone and noticed that she had missed two calls, both from her mother. _Oh my God_, she thought, quickly dialing her mom back. The phone rang three times before her mother answered. "Hi, Mom," she said nervously into the phone. "How are you and Daddy doing this morning?"

"We're doing just wonderful, just enjoying the rare time we get to spend alone," Linda answered.

"I'm really sorry that I missed your calls earlier. I'm sure you were wondering what I was doing," Steph said. "Just so you know, I was-"

"Shane told me that you were in the shower," Linda interrupted. "It's ok. I know you can take a long time getting 'pretty' in the morning, just like me."

_So Shane covered for me? He really IS the best big brother in the whole world!_

"Next time, I'll be sure to have my cell phone with me so I'll be able to take your call," Steph promised, still in disbelief that her brother had covered for her. What had she really expected, though? They always covered for each other. She'd have to remember to thank him.

"It's no big deal, really," Linda said. "As long as you make time to call me back..."

They talked for a little while longer, and then Steph hung up her phone and slipped it into her pocket. After that, she walked out of her room. Shutting the door behind herself, she turned and headed for the stairs.

"Hey, you forgot about me," Chris said from behind her.

She turned around and noticed him leaning against the wall next to her door. How had she not seen him? She really must've been distracted to miss such a glorious sight...

"I like your style, Steph," he said, walking over to her and admiring her clothing selection. "Flip flops and jeans don't work for everyone, but it's just so...you."

"I like your style, too," she said, checking him out. He was wearing a black shirt and some jeans. Very casual, and yet he seemed to give the word "casual" a whole new meaning. "It's very...Chris."

"Well, I try to be me," he said with a shrug. "So, you seemed kind of preoccupied when you came out of your room just now. What's on your mind?"

"Shane covered for me this morning when my mom called and I wasn't in my room to answer her," she said, looking up at him. "He always covers for me, but usually he knows what I'm up to. He didn't know where I was, though..."

"I guess we'll have to thank him for covering for you then," he said. "But, can we do it after we eat breakfast? I'm starved..."

"Yeah, we can do that," she said absently.

They walked down the hallway to the stairs and went downstairs. They headed for the kitchen, stopping to peek into the den to see if anyone was in there. C-Dawg and Ty were in there talking and watching music videos, and they looked to be very into their conversation...or into each other.

"They'd make a cute couple," Steph said as she and Chris peeked into the den. "I thought she liked Shane, but I guess she realized that he's practically already taken by Amy."

"Yeah, and C-Dawg seems more like her type," Chris put in.

They watched for another minute, then continued their journey to the kitchen. Steph spaced out the whole way there, thinking about everything that was going on in her life. They reached the kitchen sooner than she thought they would, and she was just about to walk in when Chris pulled her back.

She turned around to look at him with her eyebrows raised. "What? Didn't you say you were hungry?" she asked him.

"Shhh," he whispered to her, turning her around. He pointed at something in the kitchen. "Check _that_ out."

She looked in the direction where he was pointing and gasped lightly in surprise. It had finally happened. Shane and Amy...were kissing. She looked up at Chris. "I wonder how _that_ happened," she whispered.

"I don't know, but I'm glad it did," he whispered back to her. "Your brother's been liking her for a while now."

"What do you want to do about breakfast?" she asked curiously. "I mean, I thought you were starved..."

"I am, but I can hold out for a while. I'd hate to interrupt them after it took _forever_ for them to get together," he said. "Come on, maybe you and I should come back in a few minutes..."

They took one more look at the two in the kitchen, then headed back the way they'd come, both smiling...

**A/N: Yes, two chapters in one week, because I just love you all SOOOO much, LOL! Thanks for all the great reviews, everyone. I never thought this story would go over well since it's just one high school fic out of a whole plethora of them on this site... Guess I was wrong! Now, about this chapter... I got lost. VERY lost. I hope it wasn't too long and boring... It's the longest chapter in the whole story. I'll have some better ideas for the next chapter!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

It was the next Monday morning, and once again it was time for school. Steph sat on her bed before breakfast, allowing herself a little time to reminisce about everything that had happened that weekend. It had been a great weekend, to say the least. Both Saturday and Sunday had flown by, and Shane had finally asked Amy out. Steph was happy for her friend and for her brother, but she couldn't help feeling just a little bit of sadness over her situation with Chris. They had managed to hang out together for the rest of the weekend, but nothing had really happened since Linda had returned early that Saturday evening. They hadn't gotten the opportunity to sleep under the stars together again, and she hadn't even kissed him again...

It sucked.

The one thing that made her smile at the moment was the fact that she had a visual memory of the night that she and Chris had slept beneath the stars together. Shane had sent her some pictures of her and Chris sleeping together in the sleeping bag. She hadn't even known that he had taken those pictures, but she was grateful. That way, at least she had some evidence that she hadn't dreamed it all... At that, her smile disappeared. What if it never happened again?

"Steph! Shane! Are you two coming down for breakfast?" Linda called from the foot of the stairs.

"We'll be down in a sec," Shane called, leaning in the doorway to Steph's room and observing her. "Hey, what's up? You look a little down," he said finally, walking over to her and sitting down on the bed next to her.

"I was just thinking about this past weekend," she said, still looking down at the picture on her cell phone.

"This past weekend was great for you, though. Why are you upset?" he asked, concerned.

"I can't help but wonder if things are going to be the same with me and Chris, or if it'll be different," she said. "I mean, he was great this weekend, but he still has a girlfriend, and now we're going back to school and what if he ignores me and-"

"Steph, calm down," he interrupted her, putting an arm around her. "I know Chris. He's one of my best friends, and I happen to know that he's not going to ignore you. He'd never be able to do that."

"How do you know?" she asked curiously.

"I just know," he said, standing up. He pulled her to her feet and gave her a quick hug. "Things will be good for you, little sis, just trust me."

"How do you know?" she repeated, this time looking suspiciously at him.

"I just do. Now get your book bag or whatever and let's go down to breakfast," he said, winking at her. "I'll meet you down there." Without another word, he turned and left the room, leaving her staring after him and wondering what he was up to. She could tell that he was up to something by the way he was acting, but she just didn't know what it was.

"I guess the only way I'll know what he's up to would be if I went downstairs," she said to herself. She got her book bag and her purse, made sure she had everything that she would need for school, then headed downstairs. "Shane, I know you're up to something," she said, walking into the kitchen a little while later. She was busy looking at her phone, so she didn't notice who was sitting at the table. "But I haven't figured out what it is yet. Want to tell me?"

"Stephanie, don't be rude," Linda scolded, looking up from the table. "We have a guest, if you haven't noticed."

"A guest? Mom, what are you..." Steph's voice trailed off as she looked over at the person sitting next to her place at the table. "What are you doing here?" she asked finally.

"I'm here to give you a ride to school," Chris said, standing up. "But I didn't even get a 'good morning' from you, so I guess you don't really want a ride with me..."

"Oh, good morning," she said quickly, still standing where she'd been standing since she'd realized who was sitting at their table. "So, you're giving me a ride to school?"

"Well, if it's ok with your mom," he said, looking over at Linda. "Mrs. McMahon, would it be ok if I gave Steph a ride to school this morning?"

Linda looked at Chris for a minute before speaking. "Sure, Chris, you can do that. I've known you since you were, what, eight years old?" Chris nodded, and she went on with a little laugh. "It's perfectly fine if you want to give my daughter a ride to school, as long as you get her there safely and on time."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Chris assured her. He looked at Steph. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah," Steph answered with a smile.

"I'm about to get on the road, too," Shane said, standing up. "I have a special stop to make before school."

"Wait, aren't you guys going to eat breakfast?" Linda asked worriedly. "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day."

"It's only 6:20 in the morning," Shane pointed out. "We're way early for school, since school doesn't start until 7:15. We'll get breakfast on the way."

"Promise?" Linda asked in a soft voice. She hated to be the ever-worrying mother, but she wanted to be sure that her children got what they needed, including breakfast.

"We promise," Chris said solemnly. "I didn't want to give the surprise away, but we're all going to grab some breakfast together this morning."

"Ok," Linda said, standing up. "You kids come give me a hug. You know I can't let you all leave without a hug." Shane and Steph walked over and hugged their mother, and Linda looked over at Chris. "You, too, Chris. You're like one of mine, too." Chris flashed her a grin and came over, too.

"Group hug!" Shane squealed in a girly voice.

"Man, you're so feminine," Chris teased as he stood behind Steph and reached around her to hug both her and Linda.

"Shut up," Shane replied good-naturedly, grinning widely.

A few minutes later, Shane headed for the garage. Chris and Steph left through the front door since Chris had parked his car right out in front. They walked together out to his car, and he held the door for her while she got in the front seat on the passenger's side. He made sure she was in all the way, then closed the door. After walking around and getting in beside her, they were off.

"Did you sleep well last night?" Chris asked after a very long silence.

"Yeah, pretty much," Steph replied, glancing over at him as they stopped at a red light. "How about you?"

"I slept ok... I keep having these weird dreams, though," he said, looking back at her. _Dreams where I'm not with Trish... Dreams where I'm with you, and we're getting married_, he added mentally.

"What are these dreams about?" she asked curiously.

"Oh, nothing you'd be interested in," he said, quickly deciding to change the subject. He didn't want to freak her out by telling her that he had dreams of marrying her. She was only fourteen, after all, and he was only seventeen. Much too young to be thinking of marriage...especially since he was dating Trish.

"Ok," she said, deciding not to press the issue any further. She didn't want him to think that she was nosy or anything. She looked out the window. "So, where are we going?"

"We're going to Cleo's," he said, not looking at her. "I don't know if you've ever heard of Cleo's, but it's this place run by this old lady, and they serve the best breakfast in a cup _ever_."

"Breakfast in a cup?"

"Yeah. It's like eggs and all that, in a cup."

"And who's going to be there?" she wanted to know.

"Well, Shane's going to pick up Amy, and I think C-Dawg is going to pick up Tyra."

"Speaking of Tyra, what about Trish?"

He looked at her. "What about Trish? I'm not really thinking about her right now."

"But she's your-"

"Girlfriend, I know, but I'll worry about her when I see her in school."

"Well, if that's how you feel," she began.

"That _is_ how I feel, no ifs, ands, or buts about it," he interrupted. He laughed at the surprised look on her face. "To be honest, I kind of wish being Trish-free could somehow extend into this week as well."

"Then why don't you just break up with her already?" she asked, wasting no time in getting straight to the point.

"I've actually been wondering that same thing myself," he admitted, pulling up in front of a small house with a sign that said "Cleo's" in front of it. He turned the car off, then looked at her. "I've been seriously considering breaking up with her. It used to be kind of easy to date her, last year anyway, because I didn't get to see you all day."

"Oh, so I'm the problem?" she asked, looking down at her lap and feeling like a nuisance.

"Steph, you're a problem, sure, but not in a bad way. You're a good type of problem," he said softly, touching her chin and gently turning her face to look at him. He went on in that same soft voice. "The problem with you, Steph, is that I _like_ you...in ways that make my relationship with Trish seem so very trivial..."

"Trivial?" she repeated skeptically.

"Yes, trivial, meaningless, not important, not worth having," he said, leaning closer and moving his hand to cup her cheek. "When I'm with you, Trish and my relationship with her are the two farthest things from my mind, seriously."

"That's...good to know," she replied in a low voice, reaching out to touch his face softly. She wanted to make sure that this wasn't a dream, that he was really saying all these beautiful things to her. When she felt his smooth skin beneath her hand, though, she knew it was real.

"Yes, it's real," he whispered, as if reading her mind, He wanted to just let her know how much he wanted her as his own, but he wasn't sure if she was ready to hear just how much he cared for her. He leaned closer, wanting to kiss her as he whispered to her. "It's so real, Steph, these feelings I have for you just don't... What I feel for Trish isn't nearly as great as what I feel for you. You..."

"Just kiss me," she demanded sweetly, smiling at him.

"Ok, but only because you're pretty," he joked, right before he kissed her softly.

She kissed him back, and their tongues wove an intricate and sweet pattern together. She tangled her fingers in his silky hair as they kissed, and just as the kiss got noticeably deeper and he pulled her closer, there was a knock on the window by the driver's seat. They broke apart slowly and looked adoringly at each other before looking at the person who had interrupted their kiss.

"Shane-O, what's up?" Chris asked, after letting the window down.

"Oh, besides my sister's lip gloss on your lips? Nothing," Shane said with a smirk.

"I have lip gloss?" Chris asked Steph in a low voice. "On my lips?"

"Just a little," Steph informed him, reaching up to wipe it away with her thumb as her hand rested on his cheek. She smiled lightly at him. "There, all gone."

"Thanks," Chris replied, smiling back at her. They just looked at each other, smiling, not saying anything at all.

"I swear, you two are so sweet and sappy that it completely sickens me," Shane said, pretending to gag. "But seriously, guys, are you going to come order breakfast or are you going to be having _each other_ for breakfast?"

"That's a very appetizing idea," Chris said, pulling out his wallet and taking out a twenty-dollar bill. "But, you know, when I ravage Steph the first time, I plan on taking my sweet time with her. That way, it'll be all that much more special."

Steph blushed and looked down, going over what Chris had just said in her mind. He hadn't said _if_, he'd said _when_. _When_ he ravaged her, like it was already etched in stone, the fact that they would end up being together in...that way. She knew she wasn't ready for it yet, but she had to admit that she rather liked the very thought, the very possibility, of someday being _together_ with him like that. She liked it a lot.

"_Ravage_ and _Steph_ should never be used in the same sentence," Shane said, grimacing as unwanted visuals flashed in his head. "And I do mean _never_!"

"Oh, come off it. It's not that bad of a picture in my head... But anyway, here's twenty bucks. Steph and I will both take the house special, you know, the large breakfast in a cup," Chris said. He looked at Steph, silently asking her if that was ok with her. She nodded in agreement and he handed Shane the money, adding which beverages he and Steph would prefer. When Shane left, he looked back at her. "So... Where were we?"

"Did Shane send you any pictures from this past weekend?" she asked curiously.

"No, why?" he asked.

"He sent me some interesting ones," she said, pulling out her cell phone and flipping it open. "Here, take a look at these."

He gingerly took the phone from her and flipped through the pictures. She watched as his eyes lit up and he smiled. "These are from when we were sleeping together on the balcony," he said excitedly. "How'd he get these?"

"Apparently, he and Ames went looking for us on Saturday morning and discovered us asleep out on the balcony. He decided that I'd like some kind of visual reminder to accompany my memories of sharing a sleeping bag with you," she said, her voice getting softer. "And he was totally right, I did."

"I want them, too. Could you send these pictures to my phone please?" he asked hopefully.

"Of course," she said. "But... I don't have your cell phone number."

"Wow, seriously?" he asked incredulously. "I can't believe I never noticed that we didn't have each other's numbers! Here, my number is..."

They traded cell phone numbers and she sent him all of the pictures Shane had sent her. Once he received the pictures, he looked at them all again and smiled. His favorite one was the second one she'd sent him, the one where his arms were around her and she was lying with her head on his chest. Of course, all of them looked like that, but this one was shot from a different angle than the other ones, and he really liked it. He set that one as his wallpaper, then looked at her.

"What are you looking at?" she joked. "I already know I look like a monster early in the morning, so you don't have to stare at me."

"You don't look like a monster in the morning. You're just as beautiful early in the morning as you are at any other time of the day," he objected, still staring at her. "Beautiful, Steph..."

Shane was back with the food shortly after that, and once he'd given them the food, they were off with a promise to meet him in the student parking lot at school in their usual spot. By the time they arrived at the school and parked, it was about 6:45. School wasn't set to begin until approximately thirty minutes afterwards, and the parking lot was pretty bare since only a few other students had arrived.

"Stay right there, I'll open your door for you," Chris said, opening his door and getting out. He walked around to the passenger's side and opened Steph's door. After helping her out, he grabbed her books and his, then grabbed his breakfast. "Yeah, you might want to grab your breakfast. I don't think I have enough arms and hands to grab yours, too."

"I can carry my own books, Chris, it's no big deal," Steph said, reaching for her books.

"Nonsense. I'll carry them," he insisted. "Besides, we're just going to the courtyard to have breakfast. It's not a problem for me to carry your books. Shane and Amy will be there, and so will C-Dawg and Ty."

"Do you think C-Dawg and Ty are going to become an item?" she asked curiously as she grabbed her breakfast and closed the door. They started walking over towards the entrance at B-Hall, and she looked up at them. "Because they seem like they've gotten awfully close and they _did_ kiss during Spin The Bottle..."

"It would make a lot of sense if they hooked up. I mean, they seem like they'd be good together," he said, nodding as he looked down at her. He couldn't help but feel as though they were a couple walking down the empty hallway together, him holding her books and smiling down at her, and her looking up at him in the way she was looking at him... In fact, he could almost believe that they were a couple, even though he knew they weren't...yet.

"Yeah, they would be good together," she agreed as they reached the courtyard. They walked to a round table with benches near the middle of the courtyard and sat down on one section of the benches together, side by side. She opened her cup and started eating her breakfast, and he just watched her before he spoke again.

"You know, we'd be good together, too," he said softly, gazing at her. "At least, I think we would..."

"So do I," she said without a moment of hesitation, looking back at him. "I think we would be perfect together."

Before he could say anything else, C-Dawg and Ty walked up, with Shane and Amy right behind them.

"You two look comfy," Ty said, eyeing Chris and Steph as they sat there gazing at each other.

"We _are_ comfy together," Chris said, finally looking up at the newcomers. "We're having breakfast together. You guys are going to have breakfast, too, right?"

"Nah, dawg, we ain't having breakfast," C-Dawg said sarcastically. He held his breakfast in a cup up. "Even though we got food, that ain't what we're here to do..."

"Oh shut up," Shane laughed, and they all sat down together at the table and ate their breakfast.

Pretty soon, students came trickling into the courtyard meeting up with their friends before school started. The six sat at the table and talked about what had happened over the weekend, and Chris pulled out his cell phone. He and Steph looked at the pictures of them sleeping together on the balcony, and they couldn't help but look at each other and smile.

"Well, what is this and why wasn't I invited?"

Everyone turned around to see an angry Trish glaring at them. Chris quickly closed his phone and looked guiltily up at his girlfriend. "Oh, hi Trish, we're just having breakfast."

"Breakfast, and you didn't invite me? Your own girlfriend? But you invited my sister?" Trish asked angrily.

"I know you don't like to be bothered early in the morning, and besides, you don't like hanging with my friends," Chris said with a shrug. "We're just hanging out. We're all friends. What's the big problem?"

"Shane and...whatever that freshman's name is, they look like a couple," Trish said, pointing at Shane and Amy. "Then John and my _sister_ look like a couple. And you and this...annoying little girl, you two look like a couple! So where does that leave me?"

"Don't you call my sister annoying," Shane said, standing up. "If anyone's annoying, it's you, Ms. I Have To Be Popular At All Costs Or Life's Not Worth Living."

C-Dawg snickered behind his hand and looked away, and Trish looked at Chris, furious. "Are you just going to let this guy talk shit about me and not even defend me?"

"Shane's right. You act like popularity is such a big thing when it's nothing," Chris said coolly. "And, Steph is anything but annoying. She's very important to me, and we were just having breakfast. Why do you think we look like a couple?"

Trish rolled her eyes at him, then snatched his phone and flipped it open. "_This_ is why you two look like a couple. How could you sleep with her when you haven't even slept with me, Mr. I'm Saving Myself? Huh? How could you?"

"I haven't slept with her," Chris said in a low voice, blushing a little. "And thanks a lot for spreading my personal business around everywhere... Why can't you just keep your mouth shut sometimes?"

"Excuse me? Keep my mouth shut?" Trish asked incredulously. "Oh no, I think you need to apologize."

"I think I don't," Chris said stubbornly, looking away from her and back to Steph. "So, what were we talking about again?"

"And now you're going to ignore me? Well, fine," Trish said, frowning. She lifted her chin up and smiled a little, like she was going to say something that she knew would really affect him. "I'm breaking up with you."

"Do it, see if I care," Chris said, not even looking at her.

"Oh, I'll do it, and you'll regret it if you don't come after me," Trish threatened, right before she walked away, or rather, stomped away.

"You're not going after her?" Steph asked, shocked. Had Trish really just dumped Chris? And was he really just sitting there like he didn't care instead of going after her? Apparently so, because he hadn't moved an inch since Trish walked away...

"This happens all the time with her. She'll be back," Chris said quietly, looking down at his empty cup. "Too bad, though. I wish she'd just stay away..."

**A/N: This chapter just kept going and going and I didn't know where to stop it! I'm still surprised by the number of reviews I've gotten so far for this story, but I really appreciate you guys! Thanks!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Chris turned out to be right. Trish did indeed come back to him, and by the end of third period, they were once again the golden couple of Spritzville High School. Not that he was happy about it, because he wasn't. He didn't know why he kept taking her back time and time again, when he knew who he really wanted to be with. He wanted to be with Steph, and he had no doubts about that. He just didn't know how to break up with Trish for good and somehow spare her feelings at the same time. He didn't want to be with her, but he didn't want to hurt her in the process of breaking up with her, so until he figured out a way to do that, he was...well, stuck.

"Ok, baby, so I'll see you after second lunch and fourth period are over?" Trish asked with her arms around his neck.

"Yeah, I guess," Chris answered, looking over Trish's shoulder. He could see Steph over at her locker, trying her hardest not to look at him, and he wanted to go over there. He _had _to go over there. "Trish, I have to go," he said shortly, pulling away from her.

"What, no kiss?" she asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Silly me, how did I forget?" he asked, giving her a quick peck on the cheek. "I'll see you later."

"But Chris, where are you..." Her voice trailed off as she watched where he was headed: straight to Steph. "What _is _it with her?" she asked no one in particular.

"With who?" a male voice asked from next to her. "Stephanie?"

She turned and looked to the side to see Paul standing next to her, arms folded, staring over at Steph. She sneered a little, then looked back over at Chris, who'd made his way over to Steph by then. "Why is he so into her?" she whined.

"Her dad is Vince McMahon, you know that, right?"

"So? What does that have to do with anything?"

"Your boy toy is captain of the wrestling team here."

"So? He's captain of the baseball team, captain of the hockey team, and president of the drama club, too. What does that have to do with why he insists on being friends with her?"

Paul sighed. He couldn't believe Trish was so dumb and oblivious to what her boyfriend was really trying to do in regards to Stephanie. "Ok, I'll explain this in a way that maybe even _you _could understand it. Vince McMahon: owner of a major wrestling corporation. Stephanie McMahon: daughter of said owner of said major wrestling corporation. And Chris Irvine: captain of the _wrestling _team here at Spritzville. Do you not get the connection?"

"Ohh!" she said, voice rising a little. "He's trying to be friends with her because he wants to get into her father's company. He's just using her!"

"Took you long enough to figure that out," he scoffed. "But if you ask me, he's smart. I'd jump at the chance to use her... I could bed her _and _get a WWE contract, no prob."

"I bet you couldn't," she challenged.

"I bet I could, and I'll go a bit farther and say that I can do it in two months or less," he said, sticking out his hand. "What do you say, Trish? Want to make a bet with me?"

"What do I get when you lose?" she asked, looking at his hand.

"Whatever you want... Now what do I get when I win?" he asked teasingly.

"You get to have a night with me," she said, smiling up at him. "One night, me and you, and however you want to spend that night, I'm game."

"Damn, well you've got yourself a bet," he said enthusiastically, shaking her hand. "I'm going to want you at my house, half-dressed, one month from this upcoming Saturday."

"You sound confident," she observed.

"Because I am," he said, slapping her on the butt and walking away in the direction of Chris and Steph. Trish watched him, smiling deviously.

"So you're telling me that you and Trish are back together now?" Steph asked, putting her book in her locker. She closed her locker, then turned to face Chris.

"Yeah, unfortunately," Chris replied, leaning against the row of lockers. "But I told you she'd come back to me. She always does."

"Why do you take her back if you don't want to be with her, though?" she asked, trying to understand everything to the best of her ability. If he didn't want to be with Trish, why did he repeatedly take her back? Could it be that he really _did _want Trish?

"It's hard to explain. I don't want to be with her, but at the same time, I don't know how to turn her down without hurting her," he explained.

"Shane could do it for you," she suggested.

"Yeah, he wouldn't hesitate to dump her for me, but I don't want it to be that way," he said with a sigh. "I don't want it to go down like that, with someone else doing my dirty work for me."

"Someone has to do it," she pointed out.

"And I agree, but you and I both know that, that someone has to be me," he said, staring into her eyes. He noticed how sad she looked and couldn't help but reach out and touch her face. "Don't be so sad, Steph. I'll figure out a way to break up with her, let her down easy so there won't be any hard feelings, and then... Then, you and I will-"

"Ooh, Chris, getting a little touchy feely with little Miss Stephanie, aren't you?" Paul interrupted, stepping up to them.

"Of _all _the inopportune moments to interrupt, you choose _now_?" Chris asked, obviously annoyed. "And why are you even here anyway? I thought I  
told you a week ago to stay the hell away from Steph."

"And I thought I told you a week ago that I wasn't going to listen to you," Paul countered, smiling evilly at Chris before training his eyes on Steph. "Oh, please excuse me for being so rude. How are you today, beautiful?"

"I'm fine, now can you leave us alone?" Steph asked nicely.

"I just wanted to say hi and tell you that you're beautiful," Paul said, trying to appear sad. "Is that so much of a crime, for me to come over here and compliment you on how _strikingly _beautiful you are?"

Steph didn't know what to say to that, but that was ok because Chris had _more _than enough for both of them to say. "Steph, why don't you head on down to lunch and I'll catch up with you?" he asked in a tightly controlled voice.

She nodded, a little unnerved by the storm she saw brewing in his blue eyes. He was about to lose his temper in a bad way, and he didn't want her around to see it. She walked a few feet away, then turned around to look at the two guys standing there face to face.

"What the hell do you want with her?" Chris asked, wasting little time in getting to the point.

"Don't get your panties in a bunch, Irvine. I just want to be...cordial...to her," Paul said unconvincingly.

"Cordial, my ass!" Chris exclaimed angrily, slamming Paul hard against the row of lockers and getting up in his face. "You listen to me, you bastard. I want you to stay the hell away from Steph, because she is off-limits, you hear? I don't know your true intentions, but I know they're probably not good, so fuck off, got it?"

"Wow, someone's getting all riled up. Not a good look for you, pretty boy," Paul laughed, smirking at Chris. That is, until Chris pressed one of his strong forearms against the smirking idiot's neck and held it there. That's when the smirk disappeared. "Hey bitch, I can't breathe," he said breathlessly.

"That's how I feel when you're around Steph. I can't breathe," Chris said, eyes icy blue. "Now you stay away from her, you hear me? Say it!"

"I would, if I could breathe," Paul croaked.

"Chris, Chris, let him go! What are you doing?" Steph exclaimed, pulling Chris's arm in an attempt to make him let Paul go.

"God, I don't know, he just pisses me off!" Chris spat, letting Paul go. The warning bell rang, and he took a few deep, calming breaths before turning to Steph. "Want me to walk you to class?"

"We have lunch," she reminded him quietly.

"You're right. I just need to calm down. I'm sorry you had to see me lose my temper like that. I'm just...fiercely protective of you," he replied, glaring daggers at Paul, who was walking away and gingerly holding his throat. "That guy, he thinks he's so slick... Thinks I won't get pissed when I know he's plotting something and trying to get you..."

"Just calm down," she said, looking down the suddenly empty hallway. She put her hand on his arm and rubbed it a little, trying to comfort him and simultaneously attempting to ignore the tingle she felt when she touched him. "Don't let him get to you, Chris."

"You don't understand, Steph, I know him," he said, pulling her into his arms and hugging her. He didn't want to let her go, so he started touching her hair. As he held her against him, he closed his eyes briefly, savoring the feel of her in his arms. "You don't know what kind of person Paul is."

"And I don't think I'll be finding out, because I have no plans to get to know him on a personal level," she informed him, closing her eyes and hugging him back. She inhaled deeply, taking in and trying to memorize the scent of his cologne, before speaking again. "I'm only seriously interested in one guy in this school, one guy in this _state_, even, and that one guy is you."

"You have such a way with words," he said, pulling away and kissing her on the forehead. His lips lingered on her forehead for a minute, and he felt that familiar urge inside to kiss her properly, but he knew that he had to resist it for the time being. He pulled away completely and looked down at her, then smiled and took her hand. "Let's go downstairs for lunch. I'm sure your brother is wondering where we are."

"Yeah, you know how he is," she laughed, squeezing his hand as they headed for the stairs. "Always worrying about me."

"Hey, it's hard not to. I worry about you, too..."

From a few doors down, Trish looked on, her face a mask of total fury as she watched the two walk away together, her boyfriend hand in hand...with a freshman. What the hell was going on with Chris and Steph? Why had Chris gotten so pissed at Paul for simply speaking to the girl? And had he really just hugged her, kissed her forehead, and walked away clutching her hand tightly in his own?

"Miss Stratus, are you in the class or out?" her teacher, Mr. Foley, asked.

"I'm in," she muttered, coming completely into the class and flopping ungracefully down in her assigned seat. She tried to look happy, and she even managed a little smile, but inside she was more than a little pissed. _Paul better hurry up and hook up with that little bitch_, she thought angrily, biting her lip. _Because she's already causing problems...  
_  
**A/N: Compared to the last chapter, this one was kind of short (although it seemed long when I typed it on my Sidekick II). However, I felt this was a good place to end it. We're building up to that Halloween chapter I keep mentioning, slowly but surely!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Paul stood near the upstairs entrance to the upper level of the auditorium, gently rubbing his neck as he surveyed the students having lunch below him in the courtyard. Sure, he had second lunch and he was supposed to be in his fourth period Calculus class at the moment, but he didn't care. He had too many other things to worry about, like how the hell he was going to win his little bet with Trish when Chris was already in his way.

In his opinion, getting close to Steph would've been a fairly easy task if Chris wasn't always attached permanently to her side. Every time he saw her, Chris was with her, and there were simply no exceptions to that. It was like the two were at attached to the hip...or by the hand, because when he'd watched the two walk away after Chris had practically choked the life out of him, they'd been holding hands.

Paul sighed and looked down at the group of six sitting downstairs in the courtyard below him. He could see Shane and Amy sitting together on one bench while Chris and Steph sat close together on the bench across from them. Ty was sitting on the bench near Steph watching C-Dawg, who was giving them all a little dance by pretending that the small tree in between the benches was a pole.

He didn't know how he was going to win the bet unless he somehow managed to get Steph alone. If he could just get her alone and _away_ from Chris, she would be easy pickings. He was quite the smooth-talker, and he had the notches in his bedpost to prove it. If he could just get Steph alone, he could play the pity card and appeal to her sensitive side, spouting off some mess about how he only wanted to be friends with her... Or he could just get her alone and kiss her... Yeah, that's what he'd do.

The question was, how would he get her alone?

He'd just have to wait for an opportunity, and as soon as one arose, he was going to grab it...

"Get up and dance with me!" C-Dawg yelled to Ty, who was currently sitting there watching him dance around the tree. He grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet, then pulled her against him. "Ah, you know you want to dance with me."

"John..." Ty buried her face against his chest, wishing that she could somehow disappear. They were in the courtyard dancing, in plain view of every other student who was having lunch out in the courtyard. She wasn't really embarrassed so to speak, she just didn't want to stand out too much...and dancing with C-Dawg, a very popular senior, was bound to attract attention.

"I told you they'd be good together," Chris commented quietly in Steph's ear, putting an arm around her shoulders. "They'd be so good together, just like us."

"Yeah, they would. They're practically together already," Steph replied, just as quietly. She leaned her head against him and smiled to herself.

"Look at those two. They're so freaking obvious," Shane whispered in Amy's ear, looking over at Chris and Steph. "I don't see why he won't just get the courage to dump Trish and ask Steph out. He wants to, I know he does."

"Things take time," Amy said with a slight shrug. "It'll happen eventually... Remember how long it took for you to ask me out?"

"Yeah, that's true," Shane agreed, kissing her lightly on the cheek. "But if Chris feels for Steph the things that I feel for you... Well, it's a given that he won't be with Trish for much longer."

"Aw, you're so sweet," Amy said, blushing and smiling at him. He was even better than she'd ever imagined that he could be...

Steph stood up then, and looked around at her friends. "I need to go to the restroom. I'll be right back," she announced.

"Want me to come with you?" Chris asked, standing up as well.

"To the restroom? Now I think I have to draw the line there," Shane teased, shaking his head at the way his friend was so obviously crazy about his sister.

"I'll be ok, really," Steph said, already beginning to walk away. "I'll be back before you know it."

Chris watched her go and sighed, sitting down again. He wanted to be with her so bad, and he still had yet to break up with Trish. He knew that if he could just figure out a way to dump Trish without hurting her feelings then he'd be with Steph in a heartbeat...

From up above, Paul smiled to himself. This was the chance he'd been waiting for, and he hadn't even had to wait all that long. She was going somewhere...alone. This was the perfect opportunity, and he'd be darned if he wasn't going to take it!

Steph used the bathroom and came out of the stall. She walked over to the sink and washed her hands, then dried them and looked at her reflection in the mirror. She didn't know what she expected to see that she hadn't seen earlier that morning when she'd looked in the mirror, and with a sigh, she opened the door to leave the bathroom...

Only to be confronted by Paul.

"What are you doing here? This is the girl's bathroom," she pointed out, checking the sign next to the door just so she could be sure that she was actually in the girl's bathroom.

"I just wanted to talk to you, and I can't whenever you're with Chris," Paul said with a little shrug. "Besides, I'm not actually _in_ the bathroom, am I?"

"No," she said slowly. They were out of view of everyone since there was this small sort of hallway that led to the bathroom. Usually, only a female would be walking down that hallway, and at that moment, it was pretty much deserted. She was all alone...with Paul.

"You're quiet. Talk to me, I just want to get to know you," he said. "I mean, I'm a pretty cool guy once you get to know me. Chris seems hell-bent on making you believe that I'm a horrible guy, but in my opinion, he just wants you for himself."

"He wants me for himself?" she repeated, smiling a little. "That's what you think?"

"It's pretty obvious," he replied. "But Stephanie, that's not a good thing."

"Why is Chris wanting me for himself not a good thing?" she asked. "I was under the impression that it was a great thing."

"You forget the fact that Chris has a girlfriend, one beautiful, popular, _extremely_ experienced girlfriend by the name of Trish Stratus," he said, trying to see how the words and the mention of Trish's name would affect her.

"What about Trish?" she asked, looking down, dismayed that he had mentioned Trish. "What's your point?"

"She's his _girlfriend_," he pointed out. "Do you think it's right for him to want you for himself when he has someone already?"

"He doesn't want to be with..." Her voice trailed off. She didn't feel like it was her place to tell Chris's personal business, especially the way he really felt about his relationship with Trish. He'd told her that he just needed a way to let Trish down easily, but Steph knew it wasn't her place to tell Paul that. "Chris is good for me," she said finally. "Really good for me."

"Steph, I'd be good for you, and I'd be good _to_ you," he said, taking a step towards her. "I'd be so amazingly good for you, even better than Chris, and we'd be the most powerful couple ever to rule Spritzville High School."

"Power means nothing to me," she replied, taking a step back. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to decline that offer. Sorry."

"Not many girls can honestly say that they've ever turned down Paul Levesque," he said, taking a step closer.

"I guess I'm one of the ones who can," she said, and she decided that she needed to get out of this situation. She didn't know why, but she had this weird feeling, and she felt that it was imperative for her to get away from Paul and back to Chris.

"Steph, wait," he said, grabbing her arm. He pushed her against the brick wall and leaned near her. "Won't you even give us a try?"

"No... There's no chance for us. I barely know you and I'm not interested in you," she said firmly. "Now give it up and let me go. People are waiting for me."

He had her right where he wanted her, alone and helpless, and he had no intentions of just letting her go because she asked him to. This was the perfect time for him to take action and get started on winning this bet between him and Trish. He leaned down, lips an inch or two from her own. "Can I kiss you?" he asked her in a low voice, gazing down into her frightened eyes.

"No," she said, unable to look away from his rather large nose, which was also quite close to her face.

"You meant yes, right?"

"N-"

He cut her off by kissing her softly, and she tried to push him away but of course he wouldn't budge an inch. When she realized that her efforts were futile, she just gave up and stood there, eyes squeezed tightly shut, lips clamped together, hands against the rough brick wall, wishing that he would stop kissing her or that Chris would show up and force him to get the hell away from her.

"What the hell is this?" Chris exploded as he walked up to them. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. He'd sat back with his friends in the courtyard waiting for Steph, and he'd grown impatient. Now he came to find her, only to find this. Paul had Steph pressed up against the wall and he had his lips on hers... The sight of it all made Chris seethe with anger, because Steph's lips weren't for anyone else to kiss, especially not Paul... He wanted Steph's lips for himself...

Paul pulled back and licked his lips, looking at Chris. "You picked a fine moment to interrupt us," he said, sneering at him. "What do you want?"

"Why the fuck are you kissing my girl?" Chris asked in a strained voice, trying to the best of his ability to control his temper. He could feel himself shaking with anger, and all he wanted to do was wrap his hands around Paul's neck and squeeze it, and never let go, but he knew he couldn't do that. He had to control his temper.

"Your girl is Trish Stratus, and if I'm not mistaken, she's in her fourth period class right now," Paul said with a smirk. "So _technically_, Steph here isn't your girl, and if she wants me to kiss her, then why shouldn't I? Who are you to ask me why I'm kissing her?"

Chris stared at Steph, pursing his lips together a little. "You _wanted_ him to kiss you?" he asked her in disbelief after a few moments. "You wanted those filthy ass-kissing lips on yours?"

Steph opened her mouth to answer him but Paul answered first. "Of course she did. You didn't see her fighting me or pushing me off, did you?"

"No, no, I didn't," Chris said, eyes boring into Steph's. His heart seemed to plummet into his stomach when he realized that she hadn't been fighting Paul off. When he spoke to her next, his voice was low with a little edge to it. "You wanted him to kiss you, didn't you?" he asked, hoping that she would say no.

Steph studied Chris's face, eyes resting on his soft, smooth lips. How could he really think that she'd wanted to kiss any other guy but him? Didn't he know her well enough to know how she felt about him? Hadn't she _told_ him how she felt about him not even twenty minutes before?

"Well?" Chris asked quietly, wanting an answer.

"Yeah, _well_?" Paul repeated in a taunting voice. "Tell your buddy Chris here that you wanted that kiss."

Steph looked Chris in the eyes, telling him with her eyes that she hadn't wanted that kiss. He let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding, then decided that he would have a little fun at Paul's expense.

"I can't believe you wanted him to kiss you!" Chris exclaimed. "I thought we had something!" Steph looked horrified that he thought that, but he winked lightly at her and she knew he was playing a role now. "Well, you gonna answer me, Steph? How could you?"

"Chris... I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist him," Steph said, turning so that her eyes rested on Paul. She reached up to touch Paul's face, cringing inwardly at the fact that she was willingly touching this guy's face. "As a matter of fact, Chris, I... I kind of want to kiss him again..."

"But Steph, we're... I thought we..." Chris's voice trailed off, and he shook his head in frustration. "Ah, forget it, just forget it. It's like fighting a losing battle... It's not even worth it."

"I'm glad you've realized that," Paul said to Chris, smiling down at Steph and putting his arm around her. Yes, he was definitely going to win this bet with Trish, and then he would have not one, but _two_ extra notches on his bedpost: one for Steph and one for Trish...

"Forget this, I'm out of here," Chris said shortly, turning around and beginning to walk away. "Paul, if you want her, she's yours."

"And I do want you," Paul said to Steph, pulling her a little closer. "I bet you're a virgin, aren't you?"

"That's kind of a personal question," Steph replied, moving around a little so that his back was in the direction Chris had disappeared in. That way, she could see over his shoulder, and she could see Chris, who was slowly walking back towards them.

"You're innocent, I can tell," he said knowingly.

"How do you know that Chris and I haven't been together?" she asked absently, eyes still on Chris, who was now standing right behind Paul.

"Because he won't even do it with Trish," he said simply, pulling her even closer. "Now let's stop talking about those two... Let's..." He grinned at her, wiggling his eyebrows up and down suggestively.

"I'm innocent, you're right...so I'm really nervous about kissing you right now," she said, looking away and hoping she sounded sincere. "Could you...close your eyes?"

"Hey, yeah, no prob," he said, closing his eyes and licking his lips in anticipation of a kiss. "Lay it on me, Steph."

"Oh, I plan to," she told him, and then she slapped him across the face as hard as she could, so hard that her own hand was stinging.

"What the hell?" he exclaimed, one hand clutching his stinging cheek. He opened his eyes and glared angrily at her. "Why did you slap me?"

"Why did you lie to Chris?" she countered, pushing against his chest so she could put a little space between them. The guy acted like he didn't realize that people liked to have breathing room once in a while... "You told him that I wanted to kiss you when, in reality, you _forced_ me! You just wanted him to believe that I didn't want to be with him..."

"And he believed it, so what does that tell you about how much he really trusts you? If he liked you so much, he wouldn't have believed me," he said. "But he did. He believed _me_."

"Actually," Chris said, spinning Paul around to face him. "I didn't believe you. I've never trusted you, so why did you think I'd start trusting you now? And why did you think that I would take your word over Steph's?"

"You believed me, though!" Paul sputtered.

"No, I didn't," Chris said with a smirk, and then in a flash, he punched Paul right in his face. "And I won't _ever_ believe you about anything, so quit trying."

"Yes, please do quit before he loses his temper and really hurts you," Steph agreed, grabbing Chris's hand. "Come on, Chris. The others are probably thinking we're up to no good in the bathroom."

"You're right, Steph, as always. See you around, Paul," Chris said cheerfully over his shoulder as he and Steph walked away together and headed for their spot in the courtyard.

"Bitch," Paul muttered, not knowing whether to put his hand up to his eye or rub the side of his face, which was still stinging from Steph's slap. So they thought they would play tricks on him and get away with them, did they? Well, they were going to pay, both of them, but _especially _Steph...

He gathered his bearings, then walked out into the main hallway on L-Hall. He took the back way to class, walking all the way around the back of the cafeteria, simply because he didn't want to run into anyone else. He wondered how his eye looked. Chris had really decked him good, and he knew he was going to have one hell of a shiner very, very soon. Grumbling, he flung open the door to his Calculus class and stepped inside.

"Mr. Levesque... You're late," his teacher, Mr. Bradshaw, said dryly. "Where have you been?"

"In the office. I got into a bit of a scuffle with some kid a little while ago," Paul said evenly, lying the entire time. "This kid sucker-punched me and ran, so I had to fill out a statement."

"Does that explain the red handprint on your face as well?" one of his classmates, Sean Waltman, asked with a snicker. "Because it looks like someone slapped the living hell out of you!"

"Shut the hell up," Paul retorted, walking over to his desk and sitting down. He slouched down in his seat. He was going to have to have a little talk with Trish during second lunch...

Second lunch came quickly, luckily enough for him, and he hurried out of his class and up to Trish's fourth period class, hoping to intercept her before she could leave. He waited outside her class and when she came out, he grabbed her arm and nearly dragged her to the dark stairs at the end of the hall.

"What the hell? Why'd you freaking drag me down the hallway?" Trish asked angrily, rubbing her arm where he'd grabbed her and glaring almost hatefully at him. "You hurt my damn arm."

"I'm sorry about hurting your arm, but we have a problem," Paul said, leaning against the back of the wall of the closed-in stairs. He folded his arms across his chest as he looked at her. "A big problem."

"About?" she asked.

"About Stephanie and Chris," he answered.

She sighed and leaned against the other part of the wall, looking at him. "What did they do now? Did you see them together or something?"

"Yeah, see, here's what happened," he began.

He proceeded to tell her everything that had happened during first lunch between himself, Chris, and Steph, and when he finished talking, he was surprised to see her with her hand over her mouth, trying to hold in her laughter.

"What's funny?" he asked testily.

"She slapped you," she laughed. "And it sounds like she slapped you hard as hell..."

"And you find that funny...why?" he asked with narrowed eyes.

"It just is," she said, laughing a bit more. Her laughter was cut short when he closed the distance between them, and before she knew what was happening, he had grabbed her hands and pinned them above her head with one strong hand. "Um, Paul?" she asked, a bit nervous now. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to make you see how serious this is. This is not a laughing matter!" he exclaimed, right in her face.

"I'm sorry," she said humbly, which was a first for her. She was never humble with anyone, but he was actually scaring her right then. "I'm not laughing anymore."

"Good," he spat, letting her hands go and turning away from her. He looked back at her a moment later with angry eyes. "It's no secret by now that I hate your boyfriend. He's always had what I could never get. He's the captain of everything, it seems, and the president of everything... He's Mr. Popular, Mr. Good-looking, and Mr. Intelligent all rolled into one...and I'm not, and I want to be better than him because I know that I can be. Therefore, I have to get Stephanie."

"So the bet is still on?" she asked timidly, kind of hoping that he would say no.

"Hell yes, the bet is still on," he confirmed. "Your boyfriend is in the way right now, but I'll get Stephanie, and when I do... I'll gloat, I'll gloat a lot, and then he'll be the jealous one instead of me." His eyes met hers and some of his intensity seemed to disappear as he looked at her body in a way that made her more uncomfortable than she'd ever been in her entire life. "And then, I'll have a go with you in the bedroom, and everything will be perfect..."

She tried to put on her usual 'cool' face, but it was hard. She still managed to pull it off, though. "Is that all you wanted to discuss?" she asked smoothly, twirling a few strands of her hair around her finger and licking her lips.

"Yeah, yeah, that's about it," he said, watching as she licked her lips. "So... You want to go off campus and discuss our...bet...over lunch?"

"Let's do that," she agreed, already heading down the stairs. She wanted to get anywhere, somewhere public, because she felt unbelievably uncomfortable around him in the mood he'd just been in. "We'll work out all the details and everything."

"Exactly what I was thinking," he said absently, but his mind was already back on Steph and the way she had slapped him. _I'm going to get that little bitch back_, he vowed silently...

**A/N: I started this chapter and kept writing it a little at a time, and it didn't exactly turn out the way that I wanted it to... Sigh... Anyway, leave me a review and be honest when you tell me how much you liked/disliked it. Thanks!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Chris glanced down at his watch, tapping his foot impatiently. It was after school, and he was waiting by Trish's locker. Nearly a month had passed since the last little incident with Steph and Paul, and Chris was still dating Trish. He just couldn't seem to find the right way to break up with her, and until he found what he felt was "the right way," he was stuck being her boyfriend...

"Finally! Where have you _been_?" Chris asked when Trish walked up to him.

"In class, where else?" Trish snapped. She wasn't in a very good mood and she had no problems letting him know that.

"So, you wanted me to meet you here after school. You said it was important," he reminded her. "What's up?"

"Nothing's up," she said, opening her locker and putting her books in. "It's just, you're my boyfriend, right?" When he didn't say anything, she looked at him. "Right?"

"Yeah, I'm...that," he answered finally, nodding a little. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"You're not acting like you're my boyfriend. You don't act the way that you used to act," she said, closing her locker and leaning against it. "Ever since that little bitch got here, you've been acting different."

"Don't insult Steph in front of me, Trish. Don't you _ever_ do that," he said in a low, dangerous voice. "You don't have the right to even talk about her."

"I have every right to talk about her. She's trying to steal you away from me!" she said angrily. "You're mine, Chris, not hers! And yet, you've spent more time with her in the past month than you have with me..."

"Steph and I have always been friends... Really good friends," he pointed out. "I've always spent time with her. I mean, her brother is my best friend. I've known them both since I was, like, eight years old!"

"Ok, but that doesn't change the fact that you're with her more than you're with me," she went on. "I don't think it's fair that I have to share you all the time. When's the last time we went out on a date? When's the last time that you met up with me after school at my locker without me having to practically _beg_ you to be here, huh? When, Chris?"

"I don't know, ok, but I don't have time to stand here and argue with you about this. Steph is a huge part of my life. You can either deal with it or move on, it's as simple as that," he said, starting to walk away. "But either way, Steph is going to be a part of my life...with or without you in it."

"Where are you going?" she asked, following him and grabbing his arm. "We're not done here!"

"There's nothing more to be said here, Trish! You're really... I'm just getting fed up with this whole thing," he said, shaking her hand off of him. He looked down at his watch again. "And it's nearly 2:30. I'm late meeting Steph down in the parking lot..."

"See, that's _exactly_ what I'm talking about, Chris! You can't even stay here for ten minutes to talk to me without worrying about being late to meet her," she said crossly. "It's like I'm the friend and she's the girlfriend. What the hell is up with that?"

"I don't have time to deal with this right now," he said, shaking his head at her. "I have to go."

"But Chris, we're-"

"I'll call you tonight, Trish. Steph is waiting..."

Trish sighed as she watched Chris walk away and leave her behind for what seemed liked the millionth time since the school year had began. She didn't know why he would choose to hang out with an unknown freshman instead of a popular senior like herself, but his reasoning didn't matter. She was going to find a way to make him stay away from Steph for good...

"So he walks away from you yet again," came the familiar voice from behind her. Trish turned around to see Paul leaning against the brick wall with his arms folded and a somewhat smug look on his face. He was chewing gum and smirking at her as he looked at her.

"How long have you been standing there?" she demanded.

"Long enough to know that he just walked away from you to go be with Steph..._again_," he replied, walking over to her. "I wonder what those two have going on. I mean, he seems awfully attached to her..."

"Obviously, she wants him and he feels sorry for her," she said, rolling her eyes at the thought of Steph. "But there's no way he would cheat on me, especially not with a freshman..."

"I wouldn't put it past him. He seems like he's perfect and charming, but those are the ones you have to watch out for," he said, now leaning against her locker. "The ones that you think would never cheat on you... They're the ones who can cheat and get away with it."

"Whatever. How's the whole bet coming along?" she asked, quickly changing the subject. She was confident that Chris wouldn't cheat on her, but hearing Paul suggest it kind of made her wonder... And she didn't want to be second-guessing herself.

"That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about," he said, his whole demeanor seeming to change.

She picked up on this change and looked at him suspiciously. "What about it?"

"I need more time," he said bluntly.

"How much more time?" she asked, one eyebrow raised.

"A few days, a few weeks, hell, give me another month," he said, sighing.

"No way! We had a deal. You've had almost an entire month already," she pointed out.

"Yeah, I've had a month, but I haven't really made any progress towards getting Steph. Your _boyfriend_ is always in the way whenever I try to make a move," he complained. "I've been laying low, watching her to find out what she likes and what she doesn't like, but I can't get close enough to approach her because wherever Steph goes, Chris is sure to be with her. He's, like, her personal bodyguard or escort or something."

"Tell me something I don't know," she said, sighing as well. "I just want my boyfriend back. I'm tired of sharing him with her."

"And you'll get him back, if you give me a little more time," he promised.

"Fine. I'll give you two more weeks, Paul, but that's it," she emphasized. "I mean it. In two weeks, if you haven't gotten Steph in your bed and things aren't back to the way they used to be with Chris, we're going to play this game by _my_ rules."

"Thanks. All I need is a little more time," he said confidently. "I'll have her crazy about me sooner than you think..."

"And how do you plan on making that happen?" she wanted to know. "Because the only guy she seems to be crazy about right now is _my_ boyfriend."

"You know her birthday is next Saturday, right?" he asked.

"Of course I know that. It's all Chris has been talking about lately. He has a freaking calendar in his car counting down the days until her birthday," she said, rolling her eyes at the thought of Steph again. "Today's Thursday, so that makes it nine days away..."

"Right. Well, I was thinking that I could buy her something for her birthday, something she'll love," he went on.

"Go on," she prodded. "What are you going to get her?"

"I don't know yet," he confessed. "That's why I need you to go shopping with me this weekend."

"That's the _last_ thing I want to do, go shopping for that little bitch," she said, shaking her head. "I'm not doing that. Why don't you ask someone else?"

"I'm doing this to help _you_," he reminded her. "If you really want Chris back, you'd do this..."

"Ok, whatever," she agreed finally. "Walk me to my car so we can work out the details..."

"Great, so here's what I was thinking..."

**In the student parking lot...**

Chris hurried out of the school and to the student parking lot, making a beeline for his car. He could see Steph leaning against his car, looking off into space as she waited for him. He was glad to see that she hadn't decided to just catch a ride home with Shane, but he was sorry that he'd made her wait so long... It had become a routine for him to give her a ride home after school every day, and to him, it was the highlight of his day...

"Sorry I kept you waiting," he said as he walked over to her.

"That's ok. I'd wait forever for you," Steph replied, still looking off into space. After a minute, she turned to look at him. "How'd everything go with Trish?"

"The usual... Like hell," he said, leaning against the car and rubbing his temple. "Every single conversation we have turns into an argument about you... It gives me a headache."

"I'm sorry I'm causing so much trouble for you," she said apologetically, looking away again. "I mean, I never wanted to be a problem for you..."

"You? A problem? No way, Steph," he said, pulling her into his arms and hugging her. "You're not a problem... You're, like, the only person who keeps me sane these days."

"Really?" she asked, looking up into his eyes.

"Yes, really," he answered without hesitation, looking down at her and smiling. "Are you ready to get out of here?"

"Am I ever!" she said with a laugh. "It's been a long day. I'm so glad that tomorrow's Friday!"

"So am I," he said, letting her go. He opened the door for her and helped her into the car. "What are you doing this weekend?"

"I don't have anything planned yet," she answered as he closed the door. He jogged around and got in on the driver's side, and she looked over at him. "Why? What are _you_ doing this weekend?"

"Nothing yet," he replied, looking over at her. "But I was wondering if you wanted to maybe catch a movie or something?"

"Like...a date?" she asked carefully.

"Exactly like a date," he said, nodding his head in agreement. "Not just _like_ a date... A real date."

"I've never been on a date before," she said, looking out the window. "Especially not a date where the guy has a girlfriend."

"You know how I feel about my relationship with Trish, Steph... I'm not into her anymore," he said, studying her profile as she looked out the window. He reached over, touching her face softly and gently making her face him. "You know you're my girl, Steph."

"Then why won't you break up with Trish?" she asked quietly.

"I'm just waiting for the right time, that's all." He saw the disappointed look on her face and felt bad. "I know it's hard for you, Steph, because it's hard for me, too. I don't want to hurt her when I break up with her, but I know I'm hurting you by staying with her... I don't know how to do this whole breaking up thing, you know?"

"I understand," she said, looking away again. "Just know that I'll be here waiting for you once you decide to end things with her."

"It'll be well worth the wait, I promise," he whispered, leaning a little closer. She turned to look at him again, and his face was a few mere inches away from hers. "It'll be well worth the wait," he repeated, kissing her near the corner of her mouth.

"I'm going to take your word on this," she said with a little smile.

"That's all I ask," he replied with a little smile on his face as well. He touched her face again, and looking into her eyes, he couldn't resist kissing her. He kissed her softly, and he smiled against her lips when he felt her begin to kiss him back. He pulled her closer to him and deepened the kiss, kissing her until they were both breathless.

"What was that for?" she gasped when they broke apart.

"I don't know. I just wanted to kiss you," he said, panting a little. He grinned at her, touching her hair. "Now, about that date... Will you go with me?"

"I'll have to ask my parents, but I'll definitely go with you," she assured him.

"I can't wait," he said, finally cranking up the car. He didn't speak again until he was pulling out of the parking lot. "You and me... We're going to have so much fun..."

As Chris pulled out of the parking lot, Stacy Keibler stood on the sidewalk staring at the spot where Chris's car had been parked. She didn't know what the two had been saying to each other, but she'd seen them kiss, and it hadn't been a short, friendly peck, either. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed her best friend's number.

"Yeah?" Trish answered her cell phone as she and Paul emerged from the school. She could see Stacy standing on the sidewalk ahead of her.

"Oh my gosh, Trish, you won't believe what I just saw!" Stacy exclaimed. "Where are you?"

"Behind you," Trish replied, hanging up her phone.

Stacy turned around quickly, immediately noticing Paul standing there next to Trish. "Hey, Paul... How's it been?" she asked in a flirty voice.

"It's been great," Paul replied, smiling brightly at Stacy. The last time he'd had a conversation with Stacy had been at a party at Randy Orton's house, and he'd been practically banging her brains out in Randy's parents' bedroom at the time... His smile got bigger at the memory of that night. It hadn't been much of a conversation, really...

"You _look_ great," Stacy said, stepping a little closer to him and licking her lips.

"Stace... You said you saw something," Trish reminded her, annoyed at how easily her friend could get distracted. "What was it?"

"Um, I don't remember," Stacy replied, looking at Paul. "What are your plans for this afternoon?" she asked him.

"I'm going to work out today, and catch up on some homework," he answered. "Why? Do you have something else in mind?"

"As a matter of fact, I do," she replied, stepping even closer to him. "Me and you... My place, around seven?"

"Sounds good to me," he agreed, nodding at her. He looked over at Trish. "So, me and you this weekend at the mall?" Trish nodded at him, and he left, winking at Stacy.

"What are you two doing at the mall this weekend?" Stacy asked curiously.

"Shopping for Steph's birthday present," Trish answered with a sigh. "He wants it to be perfect for her..."

"Speaking of that little bitch, I remember why I called you now," Stacy said seriously.

"So what'd you see?" Trish wanted to know. "Was it Steph?"

"Yeah... I saw her kissing a guy," Stacy gushed excitedly.

"Oh, really? What guy?" Trish asked, also excited. Maybe Steph had found herself a guy and decided to leave Chris alone... Stacy looked a bit uneasy at this point, which annoyed Trish almost as much as Stacy's ability to get easily distracted. "Well?" she persisted. "Who was the guy?"

"It was Chris..."

**A/N: Ok, this chapter has been started, erased, and restarted sooo many times, and I'm still not satisfied with what happened. I just needed to get some stuff out of the way so I could get on with the rest of the story, if you all know what I mean... I'm sorry it took me so long to update this. Thanks for sticking with this story. Whatever comes next will be better than this chapter, I can say that much... Also, please review!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

"I can't believe your parents are actually letting you go!" Ty exclaimed excitedly. She was lying across her bed, one hand holding her cell phone up to her ear while the other hand doodled idly on an empty page in her sketchbook.

"I know, I couldn't believe it, either, but Mom said that she and Dad totally trust Chris," Steph said from on the other end of the phone.

"What are you going to wear?" Ty asked curiously, writing C-Dawg's name elegantly all over her paper.

"I don't know... Ames is coming over to help me choose in a few minutes," Steph replied. "I wish you could come over, too..."

"I know, so do I... But I can't, because my parents want me to stay in today," Ty said regretfully.

"Only you? Is Trish staying in, too?" Steph asked.

"Who knows? Probably not," Ty replied with a heavy sigh. "She's so spoiled. She gets whatever she wants, and it sickens me."

"Don't worry. Pretty soon she won't even have Chris anymore," Steph said. She paused for a minute, then went on. "Chris is picking me up at eight, and that's in about three hours, so I have to go."

"No problem... Go get ready for your man," Ty said with a laugh.

"That sounds about right..."

After a few more minutes of conversation, Ty flipped her phone shut and tossed it somewhere near the head of her bed. She looked down at her sketchbook and smiled at what she saw. C-Dawg's name was everywhere, his _real_ name, and her name was there also. There were hearts everywhere, too, hearts that she had subconsciously drawn... She closed her eyes and C-Dawg's face instantly appeared...

"Well, well, well... _What_ do we have _here_?" Trish asked, snatching Ty's sketchbook off the bed. "Looks like someone has a crush on one John Cena..."

"No, I don't," Ty protested.

"Sure you don't," Trish scoffed. "By the way, when's the wedding? When will you be Mrs. Tyra Cena? Because that's what you have on this paper..."

"Ok, _just_ because I wrote that-" Ty began, but Trish interrupted her.

"I don't have time for small talk," Trish said, cutting he little sister off. "I came here because I need some information... Let me make it more clear. There's information that _I_ need, and _you_ are the one who has it."

"And? What's that supposed to mean?" Ty asked, sitting up and looking at her older sister.

"Just what it sounds like," Trish snapped. "Don't play dumb with me, Ty... You're dumb enough without adding that extra bit to it."

"Oh, and you want information from me?" Ty asked with a scoff of her own. "Good luck with that. You come in here talking to me like total crap and then you expect for me to just give you information about something?"

Trish frowned and opened her mouth to yell, but then she sat down on the bed and held her head in her hands. "I'm sorry, baby sis... I just... I don't have anyone else who can help me and I don't know what to do."

"Ok, what's wrong with you?" Ty asked curiously. "You haven't called me baby sis in _years_."

"It's Chris," Trish whispered.

"What about him?" Ty wondered.

Trish sighed and raised her head, looking over at her sister. "He's cheating on me with your friend Stephanie," she whispered, her voice cracking.

"Wh... What makes you think that?" Ty whispered back.

"Stace... She saw Chris and Steph kissing in his car Thursday afternoon after school, and she told me about it," Trish replied, sighing again.

"How do you know that Stacy's telling the truth?" Ty wondered, even though she knew it was indeed true.

"Because she's my best friend, and she wouldn't lie to me about something that she knows would have the potential to really hurt me," Trish replied, looking pointedly at her sister. "She wouldn't lie to me."

Ty shifted uncomfortably in her spot on her bed. "Oh," she said after a brief moment of silence. "Well..."

"Look, I just need one teeny, tiny favor from you," Trish said. "Just one miniscule favor..."

"And what would that be?" Ty asked, feeling the guilt flooding through her body.

"I need for you to let me know what Steph wants for her birthday," Trish said immediately.

"What?" Ty asked in disbelief. "Why in the world would you want to know something like that?"

"I want to make peace with her," Trish answered simply. "I want my boyfriend back, and I was thinking that maybe if I bought her the perfect birthday present, she would respect my relationship with Chris and back off."

_Not likely. Those two are meant for each other_, Ty thought, but she noticed how pitifully sad her sister looked and felt even more guilty. It seemed like the "old" Trish was back, the one who had taught Ty so much when she was younger. She didn't seem to be the bitch that she'd turned into lately, and Ty would be lying if she said she wasn't happy to have her sister back...

"Fine," Ty said, letting out a deep breath. "I'll help you figure out the perfect gift for Steph."

"Really?" Trish asked happily, and Ty nodded. "Do you think you could help me figure it out, like, sometime really soon? Because her birthday is next Saturday, a week from today, and I was hoping that I'd be able to make it to the mall within the next hour or so..."

"I'll help you, big sis," Ty said shyly, feeling like the little girl she had once been when she had looked up to Trish as a role model. The look on her sister's face made her smile. Trish looked proud of her again, like she used to be, and whether it had seemed like it or not, Ty had always loved making Trish proud of her...

"Oh, thank you so much, Ty. You don't know how much this means to me," Trish said in a choked voice. She pulled her sister into a tight hug, a hug that Ty eagerly returned. As she hugged her sister, Trish lifted her left arm up and looked at the expensive watch on her wrist, grinning. _Only an hour left before I have to meet Paul... I swear, for all the sentimental shit I just had to go through, he _better _be able to get that little slut to sleep with him and leave my boyfriend alone... Or else, I'm going to have to take this thing to a whole new level..._

If Ty had seen the look on Trish's face, she would've regretted ever agreeing to help her older sister in the first place...

**An hour later...**

"So what did you come up with?" Paul asked Trish for the fifth time in five minutes.

Trish looked across the small table at Paul and chewed lightly on the tip of the straw that she had been sipping her drink through. "She told me the kind of stuff her little brat of a friend likes, and I think I have an idea of what to get her."

"Well? Are you going to tell me, or will you keep me in suspense?" he asked impatiently.

"I think I'm going to make you squirm a little bit," she said, standing up suddenly. She pulled her wallet out of her purse, intent on paying for the bite of food they'd just had, but he stood up as well and put a hand on her arm, stopping her.

"No," he said, shaking his head at her. "I'm the guy. _I_ pay."

"This isn't a date, Paul," she pointed out. "You don't have to pay my way. It's not like I'm poor or something."

"I never said you _were_ poor," he said, still looking at her. His eyes slowly ran up and down over her body, and he licked his lips. "And it could be a date if you want it to be... I certainly wouldn't object to it..."

"I'm with Chris," she reminded him. She waited for him to put some money down on the table to cover the cost of their meal, then started to walk towards the exit of the little diner. "Come on, let's get to the pet shop."

"Excuse me? The _pet shop_?" he asked, putting one hand on her arm and making her face him. "I thought we were going to the mall... I asked you to help me find her something nice at the _mall_."

"So? Ty told me that Steph likes animals, so I think the best gift would be something from a pet shop... A turtle or a hamster or something," she explained.

"No. There's too much to do with getting a pet... Registrations and food and God knows what else," he said, shaking his head. "I propose that we just go to the mall and find her something nice and expensive and let that be it."

"You want this gift to be perfect, right?" she asked, getting in his face.

"Right," he answered, not moving away.

"And you want to get her in your bed, _right_?" she went on.

"Her _and_ you," he corrected her, moving just a bit closer so that their noses were almost touching. "In all honesty, I'd much rather have you in my bed, because you know what you're doing."

"How would you know?" she asked, surprised.

"I know things that you'd never expect me to know," he replied mysteriously, cocking his head a bit to the side as he looked at her. "And I know that your dear boyfriend Chris... _He's _a virgin, but you? You're not."

"And how do you know this?" she asked curiously.

"I told you already," he said, grinning smugly. "I know things that you'd never expect me to know."

"How much more do you know?"

"A hell of a lot... But why don't we talk about that on the way to my parents' beach house?"

"Your parents' beach house?" she repeated, her tone full of wonder. He nodded, and she smiled a little, twirling a few strands of her hair around her finger. "And what exactly did you have in mind to happen once we got there?"

"That's up to you, Trish, but I know you know what I have in mind," he said, smirking at her.

"Don't be silly, Paul. I'm with Chris," she said after a minute of contemplating what he had said to her. "I may be a bitch, but I do have some morals...sometimes..."

"Right," he said, looking down. "But it was worth a try, though."

"Win this bet and I'm yours for the night. Don't forget that," she reminded him. "And I'm _counting _on you to win this bet, for your sake and mine."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, confused.

"Just what it sounds like," she said simply. She grabbed his arm and looped her arm with his, then grinned up at him. "Forget shopping for her. Let's go catch a movie..."

"Why, if I didn't know better, I'd think you were asking me on a date," he joked as they walked out of the diner together.

"How do you know I'm not?" she asked, looking at him and giving him a flirty little smile.

He just shook his head and smiled. Even if he didn't win this bet with Trish, he was going to be rewarded. He could tell that much already. Of course, he wanted to get Steph to sleep with him. It would be quite an ego-booster! But that didn't really matter to him at the moment. He looked down at Trish again and his smile got wider.

_Oh yeah, this is going to be fun..._

**A/N: Yeah, I _know_, it's short... But it's as far as I could take it, and I don't know why! Not much Chris and Steph here, but they'll be back, of course...since this story is _supposed_ to be about them, right? Review if you feel like it... I'd appreciate it!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

**A/N: So it's been _months_ since I've updated, and I don't really have an excuse... I just wasn't into writing... Writer's block isn't much fun, you know? But I keep getting messages from people asking me to update, and I hate to disappoint you all... So here's an update! Even though it's short, be nice and leave me a review... And the next chapter will be better, I promise!**

"So? How do I look?" Steph asked Amy, looking in the mirror at her reflection.

"You look good," Amy said approvingly, nodding her head. "You're my little masterpiece."

"Your little masterpiece? What are you trying to say, Ames? That it takes a lot of work to make me pretty?" Steph asked, narrowing her eyes playfully at her friend.

"Actually, yeah," Amy said, and then she had to duck quickly when Steph threw a pillow at her. "Hey, you're going to mess my hair up! I have a date, too, you know!"

"Right," Steph said, looking back at her reflection again. "You have a date with the dork of the decade... No, the biggest dork in a century, Shane..."

"Come on, Shane isn't that bad. He's always looking out for you," Amy pointed out. "Always being the protective older brother and everything... And he lets you hang out with him at school. How many guys do you know that would actually do that for their little sister?"

"I know Shane's a good brother, and I know he at least has a few brain cells since he chose you for a girlfriend," Steph laughed. "Besides, you know I love Shane. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't know Chris, and life just wouldn't be so great..."

"Come on, let's make sure we look perfect before we go downstairs," Amy suggested. "The guys are already down there, and we're going to have to make the perfect entrance..."

Shane and Chris stood at the bottom of the staircase, deep in conversation. Actually, Shane was doing most of the talking, and Chris was nodding his head in agreement. "And, I just can't stress this part enough, man. You're my best friend and everything, but I don't want you putting the moves on my baby sis or I'll seriously have to kick your ass," Shane said, completely serious.

"What? You'd kick my ass?" Chris asked incredulously.

"Hell yeah, man, I'd kick your ass for my little sister," Shane answered.

"Man," Chris said, pretending to be dismayed. "Whatever happened to that little saying... Bros over hoes?"

"Are you calling my little sister names?" Shane asked, getting angry.

"Calm down, dude, I was kidding with you," Chris said, putting a hand on Shane's arm. "I have nothing but respect for Steph. I want to make her happy, I want to make her smile. I love your sister, and my intentions with her are completely pure."

"Love? That's a big word," Shane said, looking awed. "Are you sure?"

"I wouldn't say it if I wasn't sure," Chris replied. "But you can't tell her yet, though, because it might scare her off. All we've shared so far are a few kisses... Ok, more than just a few kisses, but-"

"Spare me the details," Shane interrupted. "I understand that you love her and all, but don't tell me about the kisses you two have shared. It's sickening and disgusting and-"

"And your date is coming down the stairs," Chris cut in, pointing at Amy, who was already halfway down the stairs.

Shane stopped talking and looked up the stairs, where Amy was approaching. She looked nervous, and he couldn't help but smile. She was nervous because of _him_... He waited for her to reach the bottom, and when she finally did, he reached out and took her hand. "Wow, you look great," he said, smiling at her. "Casual, yet elegant..."

"You're making me blush," Amy said, blushing lightly as she held his hand.

"But you look cute. Am I supposed to keep that to myself?" Shane asked, kissing her lightly on the cheek.

"I guess you don't have to," Amy replied with a little laugh.

"You guess?" Shane asked, laughing also. "What do you think, Chris? Should I keep my compliments to myself, or should I let my girl know just how great she looks tonight?" When Chris didn't answer, Shane turned around to look at him, only to find him staring up the stairs without blinking. Shane turned to look up at the top of the stairs and instantly knew the reason why his best friend was so speechless. "Steph?"

"Yeah?" Steph asked, smiling at her brother as she made her way down the stairs. She was trying her hardest not to fall down the steps. She'd seen something like this on _Not Another Teen Movie_, and she didn't want her entrance to be as horrible as the girl's on the movie. She could just see herself tumbling down the steps now... She was sure that Chris would be the concerned gentleman and help her up, but she would be totally and completely mortified...

"You look great, baby sis," Shane said as he watched her come down the stairs. "I've never quite seen you look this way before."

"Great isn't the word for it," Chris said, in a sort of trance as he watched her make her way down the stairs. He waited for her to reach the bottom of the stairs before reaching out to take her hand and lowering his voice. "Steph, you look...beautiful."

"Beautiful? But I'm wearing jeans... I'm not even dressed up or anything," Steph replied, blushing and looking down.

"Oh, shut up, you _do_ look beautiful, and it's all because of me," Amy joked as she watched Chris stare adoringly at her best friend. "After all, I picked out your clothes and I did your hair..."

"You know what? Steph could be covered in an inch of mud from head to toe and Chris would still be giving her googly eyes," Shane teased, shaking his head at his friend. "He's so in love..."

"Shut up!" Chris warned, snapping out of his trance when he heard Shane mention the "L" word. "I told you that in confidence," he mouthed to him.

"What?" Steph asked, looking back up at Chris. "What's Shane talking about?"

"Um, nothing," Chris said quickly, glaring at Shane. He'd have to have a talk with him later... "Why don't we get out of here? The movie is probably going to be starting soon..."

"So what movie are we going to see?" Steph asked curiously as they all headed for the door. "Hopefully it's not a scary movie..."

"_See No Evil_," Chris answered, glad that the subject had been changed. He didn't want to scare Steph away, and if she found out just how much he liked her, she would probably run in the opposite direction. "I heard it's scary, but don't worry, you can hold my hand..."

"Or other parts of you," Steph joked. Shane poked her and sent her a look, and she grinned at him. "Just kidding... Don't be so uptight..."

**At the movie theater...**

"So, what movie do you want to see?" Paul asked, looking down at Trish. They were standing outside of the movie theater looking up at the movie listings.

"I don't really care, I just don't want to see some pansy ass chick flick," Trish replied, rolling her eyes at the thought of watching another chick flick that ended the same way they always did. "I mean, they're all the same. The boring, dorky girl wants the popular, athletic guy who's dating the hottest girl in school, and somehow, the dorky girl always gets the guy. That never happens in reality..."

"I thought you girls were supposed to like those types of movies," he replied, looking down at her with one eyebrow raised.

"Not all girls like those types of movies. Some of us like scary movies, too," she answered. "Guys aren't the only ones who like guns, blood, and guts... Hell, some of us even like porn... Give me a good porno and I'll be your best friend!"

"Why Trish, I never thought you'd be the type to watch those types of movies!" he exclaimed, pretending to be shocked.

"How else was I supposed to learn how to drive a guy wild in the bedroom?" she joked, wiggling her eyebrows at him. "Those flicks are pretty educational, if you ask me. I've learned so many different..._techniques_ from watching those. They're definitely worth the money."

"I agree... So when are you going to teach me what you learned?" he asked as they moved up in line.

"Win our bet and get Stephanie off Chris's back, and I'll give you the ride of your _life_," she promised with a wink. "You'll think Jenna Jameson's doing you..."

"I like what I hear... I'm definitely going to win this bet," he said as they reached the ticket booth. "Two tickets to _See No Evil_, please," he told the guy at the counter. He looked back down at Trish, giving her body the once-over. "Don't worry, if you get scared, you can, you know, sit on my lap and I'll...take your mind off the movie."

She squeezed his arm and smiled up at him. "I might just have to take you up on that offer," she said with a wink, then looked away from him. "Your lap will probably be more comfortable than the seats in there anyway..."

_Oh yeah, somebody's getting laid tonight, and that somebody's gonna be me!_ he thought, smirking at the thought. By the end of the night, he was going to know Trish Stratus inside and out... He laughed a little to himself, making Trish look up at him with one eyebrow raised. "What?" he asked her with a grin.

"What the hell is so funny?" she asked him curiously.

"Nothing's funny... I'm just thinking about all the different ways I'm going to be able to make you scream," he told her.

"You're going to be the one screaming," she countered. "Now pay for the tickets already... The movie's going to start soon and I want to get some snacks."

"Whatever you say, Stratus," he said, shaking his head and thinking about how great it was going to be to get her in bed. "Whatever you say..."

**A/N: Another author's note? Yes... The next few chapters should pick up the pace of this story so bear with me, people... Thanks...**


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